THE VIEW FROM RIZAL
The people of the United States have made their choice for the next President of that powerful country. They did so in an election which many saw as one of the most “interesting” in contemporary American history. It was a “bare-knuckle fistfight,” said one of our colleagues who is now a US citizen and living close to the capital, Washington, DC. By “bare-knuckle,” he probably meant “intense,” with the protagonists using many “offensive” words from the dictionary which were hardly ever used before in US presidential campaigns of yesteryears.
Despite the intensity of the presidential contest, the US is now ready to usher in a new administration.
The candidate of the Democratic Party, Vice President Kamala Harris, had conceded her defeat barely 48 hours after the poll results indicated that the Republican Party candidate, former President Donald Trump, was in position to bag the needed 270 electoral votes. Incumbent President Joe Biden had phoned and congratulated the winner and had pledged to help the latter with the transition. The President-elect had put together a team precisely for that purpose.
By all indications, there will be a peaceful transfer of power in the United States in January 2025. At this point, our American friends deserve our congratulations and those of the rest of the free world.
We were among the millions of non-Americans who followed the developments in this particular US election. International media reported that this “was a spectacle around the world, as people gathered to watch polling coverage at parties from Bangkok to London,” as NBC News said. It added: “Bars and restaurants were packed all through the night, with cocktails and cakes served as revelers posed with cardboard cutouts of the candidates at venues decked out with US flags and political regalia.”
“Watch parties organized by supporters from both sides were held in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, with crowds of ex-pats tuning in to witness Donald Trump’s victory,” according to NBC News.
The significant global interest in the outcome of the 2024 US presidential elections was expected. The British Broadcasting Company (BBC) report explained this well. According to the BBC:
“The US is currently involved in two hot wars, Ukraine and Gaza. Meanwhile, US-China relations have deteriorated and tensions in the Asia Pacific region have risen.”
“Closer to home, Central American nations are under the spotlight as a growing number of migrants are trying to get to the US through a border that seems more porous by the day. And this week there were US-led air strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen,” the BBC report said.
“There is almost no area of the world where American leadership doesn’t matter,” it underscored.
The direction of America’s leadership matters a lot to our country. One policy direction that our government and countrymen are watching right now is immigration. The President-elect had vowed during the campaign to tighten the noose on illegal immigrants. There are many of our countrymen who have relatives and friends in the US who have yet to fulfill the documentation requirements for a valid, permanent stay in that land of milk and honey. They are now concerned that these relatives and friends may be part of what the incoming US President said would be a massive deportation drive on his first day in office.
We will also be closely watching the direction the US will take concerning two raging conflicts in the world – the war between Russia and Ukraine, and the conflict in Gaza which now threatens to expand to other parts of the Middle East.
We are aware of the direct impact of these conflicts on the food and energy supply of the world, particularly ours. We hope that the next US President will be able to help find a way to have lasting peace and stability in these parts of the world.
We will also be closely monitoring how the incoming US President intends to deal with issues hounding Asia – particularly the tense situation in the West Philippine Sea.
Our national leadership has recently made bolder moves to address our sovereignty claims in that territory, and there are concerns that the said moves may invite more aggressive actions on the part of our giant neighbor. How the next US President will deal with this situation could go a long way in preventing an escalation and finding a more peaceful path toward the resolution of the tension.
Despite the worry expressed by international observers over the possible direction that the US may take under the incoming administration, the fact remains that the next US President was the choice of the majority of the American people. The US has shown us once again that it remains a bastion of democracy. It was one “bitter” electoral contest, our US-based friends said. Still, after the dust had settled, it was evident that the will of the voters had been clearly expressed in a free and transparent election.
Congratulations, America.
(The author is the mayor of Antipolo City, former Rizal governor, DENR assistant secretary and LLDA general manager. Email: [email protected])