Atinitonews.com : Philippine News Feature - Manila election gearring-up

Manila election gearring-up
by Marissa Buyco-Corpus

A short visit to the Philippines every now and then after living in Toronto for almost 14 years, one cannot help but be observant. Election campaigning is on full steam. As many say, we Filipinos live and breathe politics.

How can you not notice its campaign season when all you see on television are ads from the many candidates running for various positions. But Villar seems to be controlling the boob tube bombarding the Filipinos with his many ads hour after hour of the day. Merely calculating the cost of sixty seconders on prime time can run to PHP300,000-400,000 and with an estimated 20 spots daily on just one station multiply this with 3 major television stations plus radio plugs. Well true enough this cost alone will run in the billions of pesos. And we haven't even considered the cost of travelling around the country, the cost of print ads, the cost of flyers, posters, t-shirts, giveaways, cost of running the political machinery ( staff, writers, telephones, operating costs of headquarters, office rent, public relations people, etc etc. I can not fathom the enormity of the cost required to run this political business because that is what it has become - a big business !

Staying with friends Rho and Ed Clemente who are diehard Noynoy campaigners, Rho always had a steady supply of fans, yellow ribbon stickers, yellow lanterns and pins and yellow armbands. Times street was just a 2 minute drive from their home and this was the source for campaign materials.

Election fever is all over not just Metro Manila but all over the country. I also had a chance to go to Davao City where Duterte and Nograles were at odds for the Mayoralty race. But it seems everyone I asked were going to vote for Duterte for his excellent handling of the peace and order situation in the area.

Manila is another fight between Lito Atienza , Alfredo Lim and newcomer Sonny Razon ( who by the way is a UP High graduate ). When I asked around, the man on the street would shrug and say, they are all the same to me - we're still poor.

For most everyone, the frustration of what is going on in the economy, the corruption that pervades the government, the horrendous traffic, the lack of jobs for people, the pollution, rising prices, low incomes, still are problems that continue to beset the Philippines.

Election comes in a few days and everyone knows that the new computerization of elections in the Philippines which may result in problems in getting accurate returns in case there is a failure in the system. Will the elections be fair and give our countrymen a chance for a better life ? We will know the answer in a few days. May God help us !

Marissa Corpus has BSBA and MBA degrees from the University of the Philippines, post graduate studies at the Netherlands International Institute for Management and is Managing Director of MBC Immigration Specialist, Servicio Filipino Internationale, and the Filipino Telephone Guide and is a Certified Canadian Immigration Consultant. To contact the writer, email her at mbcorpus@yahoo.com or call her at 416- 266-3838.