PRESIDENTIAL ASPIRANTS have been striking a balance between highlighting their personal qualities and political platforms in the campaign, said political analysts, except for the candidate dominating pre-election opinion polls and surveys.
“I think that most of the candidates except one attempt to balance personality politics and platform-based campaigning,” Cleve V. Arguelles, a political science lecturer at De La Salle University, told BusinessWorld via Facebook Messenger.
He cited in particular Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” G. Robredo as having a comprehensive pandemic recovery and economic plan as well as a track-record in delivering public service, but added that the same could be generally said for most of the other prominent candidates who are all incumbent officials in elected positions.
“The standout candidate, and who is really disappointing, is (Ferdinand “Bongbong” R.) Marcos Jr. whose campaign is driven purely by personality politics,” Mr. Arguelles said.
He noted that the popularity of Mr. Marcos is built on the legacies of his father, the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr., and their family’s prominence. “Despite talks about unity, it is very rarely discussed to what end is this desired national unity for.”
Despite the Marcos strategy, his competitors are not resorting to personal attacks as mudslinging no longer resonates with the electorate, according to Froilan C. Calilung, an assistant political science professor at the University of Santo Tomas (UST).
“So, it’s a case of a futile strategy, so if there is no traction and it will only backfire against them, why bother to continue it?” he told BusinessWorld in a Viber message.
He said no candidate would want to antagonize the voting public, which appears to be currently in control of the electoral exercise based on preference survey results indicating a lead for Mr. Marcos.
Ms. Robredo stands at a far second in most surveys. The other key contenders are: Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko” M. Domagoso, Senator Panfilo M. Lacson, and Senator Emmanuel “Manny” D. Pacquiao. Labor leader Leodegario “Ka Leody” Q. de Guzman, meanwhile, has been emerging as a dark horse.
“We can say that at this point, the voting public is able to run the show and not the other way around as in the previous elections,” the UST professor said.
If Mr. Marcos is chanting unity without concrete measures yet remains popular, Mr. Calilung said this may be an indicator that people have become “fed up with divisiveness that has pestered our political milieu from the time of Marcos until post-EDSA era.”
It may be that for voters, programs don’t necessarily have to be extensive, he added.
“In effect, the reality is that some good programs fail to take off because there is a lot of opposition to begin with,” Mr. Calilung said, “and sometimes, the opposition happens because it gravitates around the idea that it’s not that they don’t like the policy or the program, rather they just hate the proponent.” — Alyssa Nicole O. Tan