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Things I hate about elections in the Philippines

Philippine Politics / by

As any regular reader or any Filophile already knows, it’s election season in the Philippines.  On May 10, 2010 there will be a nationwide election held for all major offices above the Barangay level.  Everything else is up for grabs – President, Vice President, Senators, House of Representative, Provincial offices, City offices, etc.  It’s kind of an exciting time, and you can see action on the election front no matter where you look in the Philippines.  People are busy getting things done.  The sights and sounds anywhere you are are probably a reminder of the pending election.

However, with all of this activity, not all is good, at least in my mind.  There are a number of things that I absolutely hate about elections in the Philippines.  Let me see how many I can come up with for this article:

  1. Signs.
    Campaign posters and various types of campaign signs litter the view no matter where you look.  And, yes, I believe that “litter” is the right word for this.  Just take a look at the photo above and see what you think.  If you live in a house, you will either end up with campaign posters pasted (yes, they actually glue these posters up!) to your wall or gate, unless you are very vigilant about keeping people from putting them up on your place.  As you drive around town, these signs are hanging everywhere.  And, a candidate doesn’t just put up a sign.  If they find a place where they think they need  a sign, they will put up dozens, even hundreds of their sign, right next to each other!  I think that part of the reason for this is that they don’t want to leave empty space for other candidates to put up their signs, although I am not certain.  After a while, the signs will start falling off the wall and you really have what looks like nothing but trash laying all over the place.  It really disgusts me.
  2. Broadcasting trucks.
    Trucks, motorcycles and any other kind of vehicle imaginable ride up and down the streets at all hours of the day with big speakers on them, and an announcer inside the vehicle blaring out “live advertisements” for the candidate as they drive by your house.  They are loud and annoying, and they come by at all times, starting as early as 5 am and going into the night.  Sometimes it is hard to hear anything else because of the loud blaring political ads being played outside your house as the trucks and other vehicles slowly pass by.
  3. Negativity.
    You think political campaigns back home resort to negative attacks?  It’s nothing compared to what you might encounter in the Philippines.  People even get killed, which gives an opportunity for every candidate to blame his opponents for the killings.  It can get downright dirty.
  4. It’s all about the name.
    If a candidate has the right last name, it’s very powerful and a big advantage toward getting elected.  It doesn’t matter if you are the person that people think you are based on the name, just having the right last name will get you votes.
  5. It’s a popularity contest.
    There is very little (if any) campaigning about actual policies or a platform, it’s all name recognition and popularity.  Of the candidates running for President, I really don’t know what most of them plan to do if elected, or what their positions are on issues.  They don’t really tell you.  They just do things to make their names known.  A big part of it also is who their parents are, who their brother is, or sister.  Which movie starts are endorsing the candidates.  What is his policy?  Who cares!  It doesn’t seem to matter, or if it does, it matters very little.

Well, these are five of the things that I absolutely hate about elections here in the Philippines.  The signs are by far my most hated thing about the elections, and how they litter the landscape.  But, putting the signs aside, there are plenty of other irritants.

What do I like about the elections here, or enjoy?  Well, I’ll be taking a look at that in a future article.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Hi Bob and good Morning,
    Someone put a sticker up on our wall, I will try to take it down but it is real sticky. In the US (I know this is not the US), the campaigner is responsible for his supporters and their actions (to an extent), and the day after the election (in Georgia) they have to clean up all the signs. I am sure that will not happen here. I see tricycles and motorcycles riding around with political messages on them. I guess we will have a quiet time for 4 years after this. At least I can look forward to that.

    • Hi Richard D – Only one problem… the election cycle here is every 3 years…. not 4. So, by the time they clean up the trash from this election a whole new one will be starting! 😆

  2. Bob;
    I keep kerosene in stock to fight the glue that’s used to stick their ads on my gate and wall. Where in the world do they get glue that strong? And yes the signs are litter.
    Yesterday the sound Jeepney was beside my house playing Smoke on the Water in Tagalog and it went on for forty five minutes, over and over. I used to like that song. Albeit it would not be my campaign theme song, too much like Smoke and Mirrors
    Negativity; The U.S. has a lock on that also. The name/popularity question, I just hope the voters see through that.

    • Hi Paul – Yeah, you can’t find any glue in the stores that is strong enough to hold two things together, yet this stuff on the political signs will not let go! Maybe it’s imported!

  3. Hi Bob, I left poster and megaphone ridden Davao two days ago and on this level I am relieved. We did the RORO to Dumaguete through CDO and in CDO there seems to be absolute control over signage and the same holds true in Dumaguete. They are locted it seems in specific areas and are done sort of like a single Poster collage of candidates for a given party which includes (Senator, Congress, Councilor, Mayor and Vice-Mayor) much like Nograles has done it in Davao. Much more tasteful than all those single ones strewn all over the place. Other than this signage you would have no idea there was an election going on in either of those two places. I kinda feel sorry for Davao as even in the aftermath of the elections you are going to have to look at that crap for a long time to come after election day is long over.

    • Hi richard – that’s interesting! Everyplace that I have ever been in the Philippines is exactly the same as Davao, I’m shocked to learn that CdO and Dumaguete are different! I wonder why?

  4. Hey Bob,
    I think I would hate those signs too. I think if I had walls outside my house where they were putting up signs, I would remove them, and then paint the walls with shortening or lard or axle grease or anything else I could think of to keep the glue from sticking 🙂

  5. Hi Bob – If I might, a few comments keyed to your dislikes:

    1. Signage – I always thought that, with the number of signs posted in the same locale, that these now super-industrious campaign workers were getting paid by the sign. 🙂

    2. Broadcasting – Up here, very few stop to serenade you for very long. There’s lots of territory to cover. I must admit, though, that these “noisy vehicles” stay quiet on Sunday mornings while the various religious services are going on. (Besides, we get to hear a lot of new Ilocano songs between announcements!)

    3. Negativity – OH NO IT’S NOT – YOU MUST BE ON DRUGS! 😉 😉 😉 😆

    4. The Name – Up here, ballots seem to have only one family name, and a spot to mark for “all others”! 😀

    5. Popularity – I think that can be refined as: “Street Money” and “Pocket Money.” Back when former president Estrada was elected, votes up here for “Erap” were nothing more than “paid political announcements.” A number of poor look forward to elections and the street money.

    Wish the signage was made from better biodegradable material – I could go into the compost business (the manure part is already printed on the signs)! 😆

    • Hi Paul – Oh, the broadcasting trucks don’t stop, they just pass by spreading their message. Problem is it is one truck after another with the big speakers, so you hardly get a break!

  6. After reading your article I walked outside and took a look – OMG, there are posters all over our wall!! How did I miss seeing those!?

    We live on the HWY (a little more traffic than Paul K’s), our wall seems to be prime real estate. As compared to some of the other issues of living along a busy thoroughfare, posters on our wall are a minor nuisance.

    Hudson’s idea sounds interesting.

  7. Yep. Yes! Oh yeah… Uh, huh! I’m with you! They are trying to control the signs here this year by taking down signs not posted in the designated areas. It’s helping but not perfect.It does help to write ‘Post No Bills” on your walls and gate. As to those broadcasting trucks, Ack! I have said that if I was voting, I’d vote for the quietest candidate. We are going on vacation in a week and will miss the end of the election season, and I am SO glad! But our friends are making sure they don’t miss going to their home town to vote, they hope to get quite a little financial bonus! (Called ‘ulan-ulan’, a little bit of rain.)

    • Hi AmericanLola – I have noticed that the number of signs is way down this year compared to past elections, so perhaps they are putting in some controls in Davao too. It’s still way too much, though!

      Where are you going for vacation? Back to the States again?

      • Well, it is a real blessing! We have a friends in Maui who are letting us stay in their villa for three weeks, for free! And we have the loan of a car too! AmericanLolo has a cousin there, so makes it special in another way. We are pretty excited! I plan to do a bit of shopping at Costco… 🙂

        • Wow, that sounds great, AmericanLola! I hope you have a wonderful time! If you want to take me along, I can bring a loudspeaker and shout out political slogans to make you feel at home! Just let me know! 😉

  8. I feel ya. I thought about covering this, but you beat me to it :))

    The signs make no point. Back home, they’d do something similar with mayor signs; put like 10 signs in a row on the side of the road. I just think “we get the point.”. Here its crazier. It makes no sense to have that many. I think its overdone like a burnt turkey in a pot. Few burns give good taste, too many just spoil the whole hting.

    The trucks make no sense either. The music is to distorted to even catch the words or anything. Its noise pollution. I’m for TV adds with their jingles, but trucks that you cannot even hear? Its like trying to feel emotionally in-line with lyrics to a song with pure screaming, yet, you cannot hear the lyrics cause you cannot understand and it ruins it.

    The name thing I noticed, but I wasn’t sure if I had a wrong opinion or if it was actually fact. But, I noticed the Noynoy and Roxas stuff. Its like a king and queens name running down a line. Names matter why? It seems insulting to the logic of individuality (although there is truth to it IF their parent raised em teaching them their ways). Oh, and this seems to similarily reflect the American Republican and Democrat label.

    Popularity sucks. Erap made his mistakes a long time ago, didn’t he? Yet he runs again? I asked April how he even has a chance and she said “Well, he’s still popular.”. Being amovie star doesn’t give you greatness. I see this in American politics as well though (such as the Obama craze).

    I guess there are similarities between Kano and Filipino politics, and differences. But even American politics bother me.

    • Hi Jawz – You can also feel free to write about this topic! Getting more than one perspective is one of the reasons why I want more than one writer on this site. I enjoyed reading your thoughts.

  9. Gee Bob, I’d pay a lot of money not to be in the Philippines right now. Luckily, I’m not! The whole show is just crazy, isn’t it. As someone pointed out, the really poor like election time because there are “encouragements” on offer from various candidates in return for your promised your loyalty. As you say, there never seems to be any talk about policy, and even when you talk to the people, they are not much interested in policy anyway, just the “reputation” someone apparently has!

    I even hate election time in the UK, and am very happy not to be there right now, since it’s also election time. We tend to elect the least incredible party there, which I suppose has some logic. I’m not sure how Australian politics works, where we now are, so I guess when election time comes here, that will be interesting.

    The most interesting thing about Philippine elections for me is that for weeks afterwards, they still don’t seem to be able to tell you who won! I expect to know the following day.

    Well, you just got to grit your teeth and endure it. It will be a while, but it will come to an end, I promise. 🙂 I wish you interminable patience.

    • Hi Jim – I didn’t realize you are in Australia now!

      Regarding election results, because of the automation machines, the results should be much quicker this year than in the past. We’ll see!

      • Yes Bob, we will be living in Australia for the foreseeable future. The longing for warmth finally drove us away from Scotland, and I still need to make my first million before moving to the Phils. 🙂

        I think it will be fascinating to see how long the results take to come through this time. I guess, as usual, a fair percentage of the population will, as usual, throw their arms in the air and cry “it’s a fix”, regardless of the outcome(s).

      • Yes Bob, we will be living in Australia for the foreseeable future. The longing for year round warmth finally drove us away from Scotland, and I still need to make my first million before moving to the Phils. 🙂

        I think it will be fascinating to see how long the results take to come through this time. I guess, as usual, a fair percentage of the population will, as usual, throw their arms in the air and cry “it’s a fix”, regardless of the outcome(s).

        • Hi Jim – Best of luck Down Under! I will offer you one bit of advice, if you don’t mind. Skip that first million. The second million is much easier than the first one! 😉

  10. Bob,
    You have just given me a good idea! Along with Chris’ article and yours I am going to combine the two to make money! I will have to find a coco farm and sell spaces on my trees for political posters!

  11. Had this very discussion with my partner about the election noise and the campaign junk on our front wall. She, being pinay slept through the noise of the trucks blaring loud music at 6am. Me, I had enough. On the question of whose going to win and why? The most handsomest of course.

  12. Have you attended any of the barrangy meetings with the politicians?

    The mayor in my town spent 15 minutes explaining how he will “remember his friends” and “the ballot machine will expose your vote to observers” ( with repeated demonstrations )

    Is it true that there is no secret ballot?

  13. Just wondering if i can charge all the politicians for cleaning up their signs after the election . If nothing else i guess they will make good kindling starters for my neighbors that choose not to partake of the local garbage truck . 🙂