New York City is over 13,000 kilometers away from Metro Manila. But today, friends and I — all Filipinos born, raised, and residing in the Philippines — found ourselves cheering on democratic-socialist mayoral bet Zohran Mamdani when he was declared mayor-elect of NYC.
In June, Mamdani won the New York City Democratic mayoral primary against former Governor Andrew Cuomo. The latter would go on to run independently in the mayoral race and lose a second time to Mamdani by a margin of around 10 percentage points. Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa only earned a little over seven percent of votes.
But why do I care, and why should you?
The New York state assemblyman’s win is remarkable in the context of a second Trump presidency in the United States. The odds were stacked against him: a South Asian man born in Uganda and raised Muslim. But he won on a campaign that truly saw the concerns of NYC citizens, especially the youth and the immigrant working class.
“New York is too expensive. Zohran will lower costs and make life easier,” the platform on his website states. Below that are more fleshed-out ideas for policies. There, he promises rent freezes, affordable housing, city-owned grocery stores, fare-free buses, no-cost childcare, raising minimum wage to $30 (over P1,700), LGBTQIA+ protections, supporting small businesses, and “taxing corporations and the one percent,” among others. On top of all this, he has also been vocal in his support for Palestine.
Universal Struggles
The issues Mamdani tackles are felt far beyond NYC.
A third-quarter report by consultancy firm PUBLiCUS Asia says nine out of 10 registered Filipino voters support pro-people policies and accountability measures, including higher train fare discounts for students, seniors, and PWDs; lifestyle checks for public officials; and improved healthcare.
Housing is also a growing concern among young Filipinos. In May, Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) Vice President Marife Ballesteros said that in 1980, around 73 percent of Filipinos aged 25 to 34 were heads of households. But by 2020, that figure had dropped to 59 percent. The PIDS predicts that household formation will continue to slow down in the coming years while pressure on housing affordability rises, causing social instability and slower economic growth.
It’s concerns like this that make Mamdani a dream for voters. The 34-year-old politician has the uncanny ability to discuss these issues with relatability and charisma, to speak truthfully of the struggles of everyday people without falling into doomerism.
Because of this, his campaign and success have also awakened the waning influence of America’s Democratic Party under President Donald Trump and the ruling Republican Party. As for those who watch the New York polls from the Philippines, we can only be infected by the hope and enthusiasm that Mamdani radiates.
