Every October or six months before there’s a synchronized (national and local) election, the country’s poll body schedules the filing of candidacies for aspiring politicians.
In the Philippines, it has been a tradition that the filing of these certificates is feast-like — and this year was no exception.
From October 1 to 8, the filing was done inside the historic Manila Hotel located at the heart of the country’s capital. The security was tight, and cops from the Manila Police District were deployed, on top of the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) own security personnel. Some Philippine Coast Guard personnel also manned the area.
The Comelec only allowed limited number of people inside the filing venue. Aside from aspiring senators and party-list representatives, only a number of people were granted permission to accompany the filers. After processing their certificates for candidacy (COC) or certificates of nomination and acceptance (CONA) or both, the aspirants posed for a photo opportunity, and if they wanted, they were given the chance to address and take questions from the media for a limited time.
Before leaving the venue, they were also required to sign the Comelec’s integrity pledge wall to vow to be part of honest elections.
In the filing, aspiring senators and party-list representatives did not only bring themselves to Manila Hotel, where the filing of COCs and CONAs was held. Many aspirants also marched with their supporters who resorted to a variety of gimmicks to show their support for their bets.
During the candidacy filing in 2021, there were some restrictions since the country was still facing the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, the bets and their supporters maximized the absence of health protocols.
Colors everywhere
For eight days, the bets’ supporters painted the Manila Hotel’s vicinity with different colors — usually with the ones that represent their aspiring senators or party-list representatives. These supporters would either line up below the Quirino Grandstand that stretches for a few meters, or assemble in a small elevated space in front of the grandstand.
Colors are staple in politics here and abroad.
Voters associate aspirants and candidates with particular colors, whether based on the politician’s choice or by the people themselves. Usually, candidates pick the colors based on what fits their brand, but there are also instances when its the supporters who decide what colors best represent their bets. This is what happened in 2022 when former vice president Leni Robredo was associated with the color pink. She said her volunteers chose the color that not only symbolizes love and affection, but also activism.
And as early as the COC and CONA filing, political colors are in full display already.
“That’s part of bets’ branding because they’re testing as early as now what will work with the people. Because these bets and their supporters check what messages work with the people. Even now that they’re just introducing themselves, they’re already showing their branding since they have still the time to test these messages, which include colors,” political scientist Maria Ela Atienza of the University of the Philippines Diliman told Rappler in Filipino.
Aspiring senator, former interior chief Benhur Abalos, was welcomed by hundreds of his supporters wearing blue and red when he filed his candidacy on Monday, October 7. Even before formalizing his intent to run, Abalos was often seen wearing blue in public events.
Another administration bet, incumbent Senator Bong Revilla, retained his signature color white. His supporters also wore the same color when they marched on Monday. When he ran in 2019, Revilla also used white as his political color.
Opposition Akbayan’s party-list nominees, led by human rights lawyer Chel Diokno, wore mint green shirts, which was the color used by the former law dean in his last two failed senatorial runs.
Diokno’s ally, former senator Kiko Pangilinan, is keeping green as his political color, as displayed by his supporters when he filed his on Friday. It’s the same color he used in 2022 when he ran alongside Robredo. Their other ally, however, is riding on the pink movement.
Former senator Bam Aquino led a pink wave in Manila when he filed his candidacy. This could be a vital move as the so-called pink movement, although not enough to elect Robredo as president, was still able to produce over 14.8 million votes for the former vice president.
Battle of the bands or noise?
Since the filing of candidacy is feast-like, signs of festivities were obviously present. Like in the last elections, supporters brought props like balloons, tarpaulins, and even mascots in campaigning for their bets. The eight-day filing almost turned into a battle of the bands, err noise, as bets brought their own sound system or live bands to mark their presence.
For instance, a drum and lyre band welcomed Abalos when he arrived for the filing, on top of hundreds of supporters shouting his name. This was also the case for other bets such as retired solider Ariel Querubin, who marched with a band as he walked toward the filing area on Thursday.
Even party-list groups brought their own bands to steal attention. Preacher Eddie Villanueva’s Citizens’ Battle Against Corruption party mounted its own sound system to play the group’s jingle for their dancing supporters.
For hours, Revilla’s supporters played a catchy jingle promoting the incumbent senator. The music’s rhythm was similar to “budots,” a type of upbeat music whose meaning derives from the Visayan slang for slacker. Revilla was dubbed “Mr. Budots” for using the upbeat music in his successful 2019 campaign.
“Of course, his advantage is that he’s an actor, an action star, he is Bong Revilla, the son of [former] senator [Ramon] Revilla [Sr.]. But in his case, he also became famous because of budots. So, whatever worked before, they will just rehash it. It already worked before, so it’s likely they’ll just use it again,” Atienza told Rappler.
Former president Rodrigo Duterte also caused a commotion anew. He already filed his COC for Davao City mayor on Monday, but it was later rumored that he would withdraw his bid and instead run for senator. At least two media entities reported Duterte’s alleged Senate bid.
On the last day of the filing, many anticipated his filing, but his newfound ally, aspiring senator former executive secretary Vic Rodriguez, said the former president would run for Davao City mayor, not for senator. Rodriguez, however, confirmed that the former president flew to Manila and they had lunch in the city.
Duterte had kept the public on their toes in previous COC filings. In 2015, Duterte made it appear that he was not interested in running for president despite clamor from his supporters. Former interior undersecretary Martin Diño, instead filed his COC for president under PDP Laban, but he withdrew his bid and Duterte took his place.
The former president and his party repeated the same gimmick in 2021, when his party announced his intent to run for vice president in 2022 against his own daughter and now Vice President Sara Duterte. Of course, this did not push through as Duterte did not file for any electoral post in 2022.
Glaring disparity
The COC and CONA filing was the aspiring politicians’ first chance to flex their machinery. In other words, it was an opportunity for a show of force — or lack of it. Filing gives the public and the media a peek into how these bets’ campaign will run come the official start of the campaign period next year.
But in all these spectacles, the most glaring part of the COC and CONA filing was the obvious disparity between bets backed by powerful political parties and the aspirants with limited capacity.
Obviously, administration-backed bets or those with machineries can mount a colorful and lively spectacle during filing since they have the means. It’s no longer illegal, as there are no more rules banning these events during COC and CONA filing, but the spirit of the filing is drowned in all these displays.
“But given that our election system is dominated by money politics, particularly coming from the political clans and from the big businesses, the fact that the spectacles or the visual circus that we’re seeing are paid for, we see them in the sense that they appear to be scripted. The support is very, very inorganic,” Kontra Daya convenor and UP journalism professor Danilo Arao told Rappler.
There’s no issue with supporters joining politicians in the filing and rallying behind them, as this is covered by people’s right to assembly. But, for Arao, it’s better to see whether the support comes naturally from supporters, and not because politicians forced them to appear in the filing for the purpose of optics.
“We can see sincerity or sometimes, you know, the voluntary and bayanihan spirit of people where upon learning that a particular candidate, who is pro-people would be filing their candidacies, they would be very enthusiastic to show their support. So, there are certain nuances to it,” the election watchdog convenor said.
Atienza explained that some candidates intentionally push for a feast-like filing because it works to their favor. The gimmicks are attention-catching and entertaining, so the bets’ activities end up being featured on television, social media, and other media platforms. Thus, their presence is felt months before the campaign season.
“However, the seriousness of the filing of candidacy is being sidelined because the attention goes to spectacles instead,” Atienza added.
Leveling the playing field
Feast-like activities and lively events are not necessarily improper. But, for Atienza, the filing of candidacies should observe proper decorum because it’s the first time bets formally introduce themselves to the voters. The process of filing inside the tent, where aspirants were given the chance to address the public through journalists, should be highlighted instead of the political gimmicks, she said.
This Comelec’s standardized process inside the filing tent also evens out the playing field for everyone as all bets get the chance to be featured by the media.
“People should really pay attention. It’s better now since the filing is televised and all the bets are being interviewed regardless of who they are. This is a fair treatment for aspirants,” Atienza noted, adding that the Comelec can formulate rules to clarify the standards on gatherings led by bets and their supporters during the filing.
Aside from clarifications on rules, both Atienza and Arao believe that transparency in campaign spending can help voters better in choosing their candidates. If there’s transparency, people can determine why and how some candidates were able to mount costly campaigns.
Arao said the Comelec can also require candidates to declare all their election-related expenses, and it should include not just the funds used within the campaign period, but also the spending even prior the filing of candidacies.
“So, that should be an initiative and a worthy project of those who would adhere to the highest standards of transparency and accountability…. We need that information so that we can compare expenses before campaign started and the actual expenses that they had, that they incurred during the campaign period itself from February to May,” Arao told Rappler.
“So, if we do that per candidate, per political party, per party group, we can get a better picture and a better idea of how much they spent just to be elected into office. So, transparency is the key here,” he added.
Obviously, the concerns on an overly festive candidacy filing, including other election-related issues, stem from the country’s weak political system and the Filipinos’ customs on electing leaders. As stated in countless reports, journals, and research papers, the Philippine political system is anchored on the so-called “personality-based” politics, rather than party politics, like in many nations.
Personality-based politics means voters choose to elect leaders based on who they are as individuals, rather than picking bets who come from political parties that present solutions and programs that match their ideologies and aspirations.
As a result, many aspiring politicians always go for gimmicks that will catch people’s attention — and hopefully their votes. Whether these gimmicks are overly grandiose or timid, some bets would not care because their primary goal is to be elected. – Rappler.com
