Pink Tide 2.0: Lessons for the Philippine opposition

Many sincerely believed that Vice-President Leonor 'Leni' Robredo could pull off an 11th hour victory. – AP

ELECTION day in the Philippines, May 9, was likely my busiest day since the last elections. The day began at 7am with international media interviews and ended at 5am the next day following round-the- clock appearances on local TV and accommodating whatever online interviews I could squeeze in.

Naturally, I threw in a few hours of polyphasic naps in between so that I could keep a semblance of coherence on screen. The rest of the week, meanwhile, was dedicated to explaining the election outcome to the world, which simply wondered: “You elected another Marcos!?”