Nathan

Featured, Philippines

I don’t know how it is with other countries, but in the Philippines, in order to win an election, you’d have to spend millions and millions in Pesos. And mind you, it’s not even a guaranteed win. Unless, of course, it’s all part of a well-orchestrated move that involves inside manipulation.

Background

A politician’s salary is a measly below-average compared to working in the industry, yet a lot are willing to spend gazillions in cash to win. What’s so important about winning an election, aside from the obvious seat of power and glory? Ahh, the ever so limited cash that the Philippines has. Every project they are engaged in, they have the “power” to insert lines into contracts, to add miscellaneous fees, to fake receipts, etc. This oftentimes result to more than 100% increase in the total amount, which they put under the guise of public service – ‘This project was brought to you by: So and so…’

Strategy: Diversify and Modernize

Nearing the May 2010 elections, more and more ads can be seen or heard in radios and TVs. Not only that, ads start to diversify as well, targeting not only the usual channels, but also utilizing more modern approaches. Imagine political ads invading the Internet and taking the form of YouTube videos, Google Ads, Facebook Fan Pages and Facebook Ads. Yes, it’s happening! I never thought this day would come, but it did! I must admit it is a brilliant strategy, as more and more people are reliant on the Internet and are fans and loyal users of social networking sites.

BS: Too Much Spending

There are just too many ads a normal human can take of a single political candidate. Spending too much is pure crap. Taking that aside for a while, many of them have already been airing these ads since last year! Let’s revisit what constitutes a fair election. A very clear example of too much spending is Manny Villar. Yes, he has been the pioneer in Internet campaigning. According to this ABS-CBN News article,

Romano said he estimates that Villar spends $1,000 or P47,000 a day on the Internet, compared to their $50 to $100 or P4,700 budget daily.

Imagine Php 47,000 in 120 days (4 months). That’s already Php 5.6M, and I guess that’s the least of his worries. He even has his own game show on TV! What’s up with that?! He gives out house and lots on TV, and pays for millions of celebrity endorsements. Now what can I say? No wonder estimates say that he has already spend at least Php 1 billion ($20 M) for his campaign. I’ve mentioned Manny Villar, because he is a premier example of overspending, but almost everyone is guilty of that.

Spending Capacity = Justifiable Overspending?

It is now not a matter of spending capacity. Ok, granted that you are indeed very rich and can spend well beyond your means? Let’s say you spend Php 100M, how will you regain what you have lost? Why will you spend that much if you do not have something to gain? It’s just like a business. Why will you invest in something with no returns? It’s crazy and a total BS to say – “I want to serve the Filipino people,” when in fact you just want to get your way.

Villar was asked in a recent presidential debate in DLSU whether he agrees to limiting the political campaign spending or not. Here’s his reply:

“In limiting campaign spending, we should not shut the door to those candidates who are poor, whose mother was not a celebrity, whose sibling was not a celebrity, so that they can be known…Even though I have a lot of infomercials, I don’t think I can reach the level of popularity of a popular celebrity or a popular mother,” he said in an apparent jab against Aquino. Aquino’s mother is the late president Corazon Aquino while his sister is popular TV host Kris Aquino.

Agree. But how about those who have nothing to spend? Are you not shutting the door on those poorer than you? Here’s his reply:

“It depends on what you do. For example, in business, if you have no money, it’s probably because you don’t know how to manage. You will be giving a big problem to the country if you run when you can’t even manage your business.”

You be the judge. However, I still don’t believe that it is justifiable, whether it is him or his opponents. It’s pure BS!

Finale

Winning is all that matters, apparently. The problem lies in the people, yet the problem also lies in the system. As long as the system allows such behavior, and as long as people allow it to happen, the Philippines will remain last in South East Asia. The once pride of Filipinos, now is dead last in overall standing, yet first in corruption.

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