Tags: Elections
By Marjorie Gorospe
MAKATI CITY, METRO MANILA—Despite apprehensions about the country’s first automated polls, political analyst Edmund Tayao considers the outcome a success and reflects the “changing pattern” of Filipinos’ electoral choices.
According to Tayao, because of the speed of the election results and proclamation of winners, the losing candidates were not even able attempt any fraud that could change the results, unlike in the past.
“Political personalities didn’t expect this to happen. They didn’t know what hit them. There are doomsayers, this is going to happen, there’s no election scenario. But all these didn’t happen,” says Tayao, adding the results indicate voters’ desire for change in the next six years under a new administration.
But this desire, he points out, is not necessarily rooted in a celebrity candidate or someone who promises reforms. Instead, it reflects a collective feeling towards the incumbent government.
“Because of this strong feeling against the incumbent administration, anyone who was reported to have alliance with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo like (Manny) Villar, who was initially neck and neck with Sen. Benigno Aquino III, suddenly his numbers plummeted,” says Tayao.
Filipinos have been regarded as poor decision makers during elections but this Tayao attributes to lack of available information.
After the first EDSA Revolution in 1986, he said those who won the elections were candidates who were identified with the late President Cory Aquino. In 1995, Filipinos started electing celebrities to public office.
“We’re experimenting at that time because those lawyers we used to vote for, who we think are competent enough to run the government, ended up creating more trouble than what is expected. And so, because these actors are projecting themselves to be good in movies, we thought they can perform well in government,” says Tayao.
But eventually, not all the celebrities were able to perform although there were a few who delivered. Vilma Santos, says Tayao, stands out because of her performance as a public official.
“I personally didn’t expect her to perform but Batangas is an example of the kind of leadership she has provided. But I can’t compare her to other celebrities who ran.”
Then, there is the “morality trend” in governance, which benefited former military officials like Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV. According to Tayao, people during that time were looking for those who were really passionate in good governance and human rights.
But although the ‘change’ factor was probably the reason why Sen. Aquino won, the question now according to Tayao is the kind of ‘change’ that people really want.
“I hope that this administration is going to be not the same as the administration of former president Aquino,” said Tayao. During the time of the late former president, the order of the day was to recover from a dictatorship and re-establish democracy, which, he says, is entirely different from today’s status quo.
“I hope that the new government will make use of this opportunity to introduce real changes and those who worked closely to the president-apparent can set aside personal interest,” says Tayao.
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