WINNING
OR LOSING IN A PHILIPPINE ELECTION
A
Political Election Campaign
Political pundits have been asked numerous questions as to the most
important component of a political campaign strategy that will assuredly impel
victory for election candidates. Until today, the
query remained unanswered as we have heard equivocal answers to a seemingly
difficult question. Most political experts will say, having a ”win-able” candidate, a successful fundraising to source out
enough campaign funds and a well planned and effective campaign activities to convert the support of the “target “voters into actual votes in the
polling precincts on election day.
The Role of Mass
Media
Political strategists
have the use of numerous materials for their campaigns, however, most if not
all consider mass media as the most potent campaign tactic. Almost every stage
of a political campaign is carefully planned to obtain the fullest media
coverage, from fund raising, press announcements, staged campaign rallies,
major radio and TV interviews and political debates.
In political campaigns of today,
candidates necessitate newspaper, magazines, radio, television and now the
internet to reach the voting public with their political aspirations. For this
reason, political analysts say that candidates who are deficient in effective
media strategy are predestined to meet failure in the elections.
Analysts added that
advertising oftentimes distorts essential information and positions while the predominance
of polling by news conduits turns elections into popularity contests and causes candidates to follow the opinions of
the voters on contemporary issues rather than their own. Whatever its positive
or negative effects, the fact remains that exposure to the news media does
influence public awareness and opinion, significantly.
Many articles have
been written about the effect that the mass media have upon the
presentation and outcome of political campaigns however many observers have
opined that mass media communications often focuses on the superficial factors
such as popularity and family influence of candidates while ignoring vital issues in the election.
Upsurge of Elected
Officials From Various Fields
Nowadays, we have numerous elected government
officials who are luminaries from the fields of sports, show business,
Tri-media and even from the religious sector.
The
long list started with the late Senator Rogelio de la Rosa, who was a matinee
idol before he was elected to the Senate in 1957 and later became Philippine
Ambassador to Cambodia, Netherlands and Poland, among other assignments. There
were unverified reports that Senator de la Rosa could have won the 1961
presidential polls mainly because of his popularity not to mention his
respectable qualifications. While in the
middle of his campaign, Sen. De le Rosa withdrew from the race in favor of his
co-Kapampangan brother-in-law, Diosdado Macapagal, who eventually won the
election.
Former
and current elected government officials coming from these fields include
Joseph Estrada, Noli de Castro, Loren Legarda, Grace Padaca, Ramon Revilla,
Robert Jaworski, Bong Revilla, Jinggoy Estrada, Lito Lapid, Vilma Santos, Isko
Moreno, Herbert Bautista, Joey Marquez, Alma Moreno, George Ejercito, Mark
Lapid, Father Eddie Panlilio, Grace Padaca, Guia Gomez, Isko Moreno, Manny Pacquiao
and the list goes on and on.
Election Campaign Paraphernalia
For as long as we could remember,
Filipinos have seen varied kinds of campaign paraphernalia around the country.
Posters and tarpaulins of candidates can be seen in houses, electric and
telephones posts, trees, public utility jeepneys and buses, “sari-sari stores,
“tri-sikad” and tri-cycles, ice cream carts and many more. With all these
paraphernalia of different shapes, sizes and colors scattered around cities,
municipalities, barangays and puroks, the whole landscape seem to bear
semblance to a carnival, circus or “fiesta” in the whole nation. With the
campaign period for local positions scheduled to start on March 29, 2016 expect
a more colorful terrain and festive atmosphere everywhere.
Aside from the tarpaulins,
posters and leaflets and flyers, candidates have to spend huge amount of money
to provide voters with “giveaway” gifts such as hand fans (abaniko), lighters, calendar IDs, Tee-Shirts, Caps, ball pens,
coffee cups, beer mugs, among many other items as far as one’s imagination can
stretch. Of course, all of these gifts are personalized with the name, photo
and “catchy” phrases and puns of candidates.
It is still vivid in our minds
the slogans of; Ramon Magsaysay’s “ Magsaysay
is my guy” Diosdadado Macapagal’s
“Poor Boy from Lubao”, Ferdinand Marcos “ This country can be great again”,
Estrada’s “ERAP sa Mahirap”, Pres.
Aquino’s “ Kung Walang Corrupt Walang
Mahirap” Gibo Teodoro’s “ Galing at
Talino”, Manny Villar’s “Sipag at
Tiyaga”, Joker Arroyo’s “ Kung Bad
Ka, Lagot Ka”,and Pichay’s “ Itanim sa Senado”, among a lot of
others.
Political Jingles
By nature, Filipinos are music lovers.
An entertainment magazine described Filipinos as the “Italians of Asia” because
we love and appreciate music just like the Italians do. It is very true that in
houses, offices, coffee shops, malls, stores, public utility and private
vehicles and markets, listening to music is a part of daily life of Filipinos.
Many of our professional singers have
invaded foreign shores and made good as international entertainers. This first
Filipino talent was showcased with the front act of the Reycard Duet at Las Vegas in the early 1960’s followed by Pilita Corrales and Jun Polistico of the Society of 7, a band based in Hawaii. Lea Salonga who rose to world fame with her
stage performance of Kim in Miss Saigon, was asked to perform for Queen
Elizabeth II of Great Britain, former US Presidents George Bush and Bill
Clinton. Lani Misalucha is now
permanently based in Las Vegas doing front acts in hotels and casinos while Arnel
Pineda vaulted to
international renown when he became the lead singer of the American rock band Journey in 2007. And who can miss the young Filipino lady with a
powerful and magnificent voice, Charice Pempengco,
who made waves in the US, Asia and Europe and even did a concert with the
famous Celine Dion at the Central
Park in New York after enthralling the audience and TV watchers worldwide in
the Oprah Winfrey show, and the
number will continue to grow. Today “karaoke”
singing is a favorite pastime of Filipinos, from the smallest purok to the biggest urban center in the
country.
When democratic elections in the
Philippines began in the early 1930’s, music became a part of every political
campaign to attract the fancy of the voting public. In one election campaign report, George S.
Caparas of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) wrote,
“A jingle is basically a candidate’s
musical score, but its usefulness lies in its being a mnemonic device that
compresses name, program and platform into a 2-minute rhyme. The best ones play
endlessly in one’s head. Blaring relentlessly from motorcades and speakers, a
jingle enlivens the crowd before a big speech. Its mission is simple. Disarm
the voter with a good harmony before drilling the message home. Speeches are
all the same and easily forgotten, but a great jingle lingers.”
The “Lacson Mambo”
The late Manila Mayor Arsenio
H. “Arsenic” Lacson became the first politician to use a campaign jingle in the
history of Philippine politics.
Archives recorded a successful
political jingle known as the “Lacson
Mambo”, a campaign strategy used by the late Manila Mayor Arsenio H.
Lacson. The political song that was based on the sensual African drumbeats and
Cuban rhythm was reportedly instrumental in Mayor Lacson’s election victories
in 1951, 1955 and 1959.
The
“Magsaysay Mambo”
I was still in the elementary school when the late Ramon Magsaysay run
for President in 1953 and I cannot forget the many times I and my classmates
would sing and dance to the “ Magsaysay
Mambo”, amazingly composed by the late former Sen. Raul S. Manglapus.
Everywhere
that you would look,,, was a bandit or a
crook,
Peace
and Order was a joke,,,, til Magsaysay pumasok,
That
is why,,, That is why,,,, you will hear the people cry,
Our
democracy will die,,,, Kung wala si Magsaysay,
The perceived effectiveness of the “Magsaysay
Mambo” as a campaign strategy was reinforced when Magsaysay won the
Philippine Presidency by a landslide. Magsaysay garnered 68.9 % while incumbent Pres. Quirino got 31% of the total casted votes, an unprecedented margin in the
Philippines political history.
It makes me wonder why, after many years, this political jingle still lingers on
the back of my mind and I can still sing it to the tune and
rhythm of the song as I believe most Filipinos of my generation can.
Goons, Guns and Gold in Philippine Politics
While
it is true that Filipinos have long endured election-related violence in the
country, the use of “goons and guns”
by politicians have dwindled since the Martial Law in 1972. Carnage brought
about by political elections become dominant in the 1950’s to 1960’s where hostilities
are almost daily occurrences. Powerful political clans coming from the oligarchic
national and local clans maintained “private
armies” to pursue political ambitions. Once elected into public offices, these
political warlords boost their
capacity for violence and intimidation purportedly to counter the NPA rebels or
Muslim insurgents.
The
deadly clashes of political clans are most prevalent in the local government
units where fraud and violence became a daily ritual. Among the many political “warlords” that were always vying for
supremacy in their communities are; the Montanos and Bocalans in Cavite, the
Josons and Perezes in Nueva Ecija, Crisologos and Singsons in Ilocos Sur, the
Cojuangcos and Aquinos in Tarlac, the Dimaporos and Quibranzas in Lanao del
Norte, and the Ganzons and Carams in Iloilo. Then, the preponderant “political warlordism”
created armed groups in Mindanao like the “Barracudas and Blackshirts
fighting against the Christian “Ilagas”. Another political armed group “PUSA” was organized by powerful
political clans in Mindanao, an ellipsis for Pendatun, Udtog
Mattalam, Sinsuat and Ampatuan.
However, a most recent poll-related violence jolted the nation with
the mass murder of 57 people in a politically volatile province Maguindanao,
Mindanao on Nov. 2009. It is not only
the outrageous number of fatalities that
eclipse previous acts of
election-related violence that is mindboggling but also the extent of
the senseless bloodbath since the victims included relatives and supporters of
a would-be gubernatorial candidate of a rival clan, as well as women, 18
journalists, and travelers innocently passing the scene of the barbaric
murders. A powerful political clan,
acknowledged to be a close ally of former Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, is the
suspected perpetrator of the senseless massacre.
Most Filipino traditional politicians (trad-pol) dispense the “gold,”
or huge amounts of cash, to buy votes. But they also recruit “goons with guns,”
or private armies, to take on equally militarized political opponents. All of
these show the grim reality of the deteriorating stability of the democratic
state of the nation.
The Political Campaign “Barkers”
In Philippine politics, a political “barker” is a name given to a person who acts as a “mouthpiece” of a candidate or a
political party. Usually, political ”barkers”
come from the broadcast media of the local radio stations in the provinces and
cities and are adept in portraying their candidate’s profile to attract voters
attention. Political analysts have observed that the main issue of political “barkers” is credibility.
While there are political “barkers”
who campaign through the radio broadcast consistently for a party or
candidates, it is common to see political “barkers”
rallying for a candidate in one election and against the same candidate in
another election, depending on who pays them. “Barkers” of this type can lash demeaning and derogatory diatribes
against a particular candidate on one election year but can sing praises to
high heavens to the same candidate in another election. Jestingly, a local
politician compared some political “barkers”
to a jukebox, a musical equipment that plays the kind of music selected by the
person who drops the coin money in its slot box. While I find this statement
humorous enough, yet many will find this accurate and relevant. As an example,
one highly-paid presumptuous political “barker”
in a local government unit reportedly humiliated himself by tendering a
public apology, as demanded by the accuser, to evade conviction of a libel
charge filed against him by an election candidate and former city official.
Maybe for this reason, political strategists should be fastidious and
cautious in choosing their political campaigners and “barkers” in order that irreparable damage to the chances of their
candidates in winning the election will be circumvented.
So you want to enter the political jungle huh? Before you do that, you
have to think not twice but many times before you join the Olympics of
Promises, Lies, Deception and Hypocrisy.. That is why many regard politicians
as belonging to the rare breed of
people.
Rogelio G. Balo
Central Valley, California USA
September
27, 2015
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