Administrative spokesmen have harped on the theme that even if fraud and intimidation marred the recent election, the outcome did not change -- president Marcos won.

If all that the election decided was whether Ferdinand Marcos or Corazon Aquino would be president, the size of the winning margin would not matter at all.

But deciding who governs is only one function of an election. The elections provide feedback to the local and international communities and for this purpose, the margin of victory is extremely important.

The margin of victory tells the winner how much support he (she) actually has in the population; it suggests to incumbent legislators and local officials how prudent it would be to cooperate with the winner; it indicates to foreign governments how much popular support the winner can count on in meeting our country’s present and future commitments.

If this kind of feedback is to be a valid guide for how the government is to undertake the political and economic tasks ahead, these election returns have to be accepted as trustworthy to begin with by the great majority of our people.

Our citizens must be convinced that their votes were actually counted, that whatever efforts they expended for the candidates of their choice did not go to naught, and that their votes, whether cast for the winner or loser, will be taken into account when the government plots the course our country will take over the next few years.

Unfortunately, the public statements of Jaime Opinion, J. V. Cruz, Ronnie Nathanielsz, et al. imply only an obsession with proclaiming that Ferdinand Marcos won. They don’t seems to care about the legitimacy of this alleged victory or about the amount of popular support Mr. Marcos can count on for the tasks ahead.
 
 

QUIRINO TORRES