A lesson for Pacquiao and other celebrity electoral candidates: Running for Public Office is not a Popularity Contest

If there is something positive in the recent Philippine Election (which I branded as Jurassic in my recent entry), it is the semblance of maturity among the electorate: majority of movie stars and other celebrity candidates were clobbered. One of those celebrities is Manny Pacquiao.

As one of the millions of fans of Manny Pacquiao, the boxing champ, I am happy that he didn’t get elected. For, how in the world can he effectively fulfill his duties as a congressman while being a topnotch boxer at the same time had he won? Reports said that he is disappointed and depressed over his lost. He now resorts to blaming even his political leaders- he complains that his money was pocketed by his supposed leaders. We cannot blame him for such actuation for he might have spent a fortune in his campaign. It is the kind of reaction we see from every neophyte politician who lose at the first try. The people around him made him believe that he is invincible.

One important thing which Manny didn’t put into consideration is the vaunted political machinery of his opponent who is a descendant of a political family that has reigned in their province for generations. His camp did not exert efforts to employ strategies to counter such. He relied solely on his popularity. He should have anticipated that the crowds that gathered in his rallies are not actual votes. It was his celebrity status and the movie stars he brought in his rallies that attracted the crowds, not his platform which didn’t have any remarkable difference from his opponent’s. Come Election Day, the crowds did not necessarily translate into votes. But, why oh why? The answer lies in the fact that in our political system (which I abhor), if a local candidate does not have the backing of the Barangay Captains, there is slim chance for one to get elected. When I was still a seminarian serving in the villages during summer, I have witnessed how powerful the Barangay Captains are, especially in the far-flung villages. Their voice is like God’s to their constituents. Their constituents become captive votes to the candidates they campaign for.

Manny became blind and deaf because of his sheer belief that his popularity can deliver the votes. Even the other candidates (Lito Lapid, Kit Atienza, etc.) whom he endorsed did not win. Worse, his candidacy gave the impression that he was just persuaded by Malacanang, with the intention of thwarting the candidacy of a known critic. It was already too late when he came back to his senses. I hope that this setback gave him profound lessons in life.

The Jurassic Philippine Electoral System

I could only watch (on TV and internet) with pity at how last Monday’s Philippine election was conducted. Nothing has changed in our electoral process since the first time I exercised my right to vote 20 years ago. People complained of the same problems: names of voters are not on the voter’s list while dead peoples’ names are still on the list. After the voting, the snail-paced manual counting began and the usual problems occurred- ballot box snatching, deliberate brown-outs for cheating purpose and ballot box and Election Returns switching in some areas. No wonder why one of the foreign observers remarked that our elections are "worse, compared to Afghanistan." I pity the teachers who serve during elections- two teachers were killed in an arson on a school in Batangas while fulfilling their duties; most of the teachers are victims of intimidation from opposing sides; they themselves bring the ballot boxes, most of the time on public transport (the COMELEC always fail to provide transportation fro them) to the place where the votes are to be canvassed after the counting in the precinct level. These things can be avoided if the elections were automated. It is pathetic that those election automated machines are rotting at the storage room of COMELEC because there was anomaly in their purchase.

Months before the elections, during the elections and the days after the elections, the most barbaric indication of our Jurassic system occurred- killings, there were killings everywhere. Yet, the police have the guts of proclaiming that this year’s election is peaceful.

I have been to US and Italy during their elections and I wondered in awe as the results were known the following day and there were no killings and other glitches. When will the Philippines automate its elections? When will the election related violence stop?