Philippines Presidential Campaign Thrives in Online World

MANILA — Festive days are here again in the Philippine political scene as 10 presidential candidates – ranging from the son of a former president to an environmentalist, a Christian minister and a former actor – battle it out for the voters’ “yes” come May 10.

Song-and-dance numbers, endless handshakes and bear hugs, autograph signing and photo opportunities are staple fare these days in the Philippines’ freewheeling media, one of the liveliest in South-east Asia.

Philippine presidential candidate Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III (L), the son of late former President Corazon Aquino, speaks during a student forum at the Philippine National University in Manila in January. (Photo: Reuters)

Primetime television is peppered with highly sophisticated — and definitely expensive — political advertisements as well as well-placed endorsements by movie stars.

Then, there are the usual rousing speeches on the campaign trail in this country of more than 92 million people. An estimated 90,000 candidates are said to be vying for some 17,600 elective posts, ranging from president to members of Congress to mayors and village chiefs.

But in addition to the traditional ways of campaigning among the country’s more than 50 million voters, the fiesta-like atmosphere of the three-month election campaign that began on Feb. 9 has gone viral online.

Candidates’ use of a mix of virtual ways of competing for votes can either be a blessing – in that they get easy and oftentimes free exposure to online users – but also a curse because what they say will be closely scrutinized in the process.

The new media are "providing transparency to the election campaign" as a whole, says English-language daily 'Business Mirror' section editor Lyn Resurreccion.

"Since anybody who is a member of a social network or who has a blog could speak his mind and comment or provide information about a candidate or any event in the duration of the election campaign, it’s an important venue for communication among the electorate, whether the information provided are verified or not," Resurreccion said.

"Reaction-wise, mainstream media appear to be far from the reach of their audience," she added, comparing the immediate feedback and reaction on blogs and social networking sites with that of the letters section of the print media.

A strong, active online presence also helps candidates reach out to the huge overseas Filipino community, given that more than 10 percent of the country’s population is estimated to be working in more than 120 countries. Overseas voting is scheduled for April, ahead of the May 10 vote in the country.

But candidates’ online pitches also mean that the virtual world can become "a venue for propaganda", says journalist and blogger Ellen Tordesillas.

"Websites like Facebook have changed from being merely social networking sites for friends and families and have now been flooded by all these election-related content. Of course, we also know these things come and go," Tordesillas, a columnist for the English-language daily 'Malaya' and Filipino-language tabloid 'Abante', told the AMF.

Facebook, Friendster and Multiply, as well as popular video site YouTube, the microblogging site Twitter, and online encyclopedia Wikipedia are among the social networking sites where candidates try to sell their campaigns, platforms and personalities to the public.

The sizable bunch of presidential candidates – Sen. Benigno Aquino III, Manny Villar, Richard Gordon, Nicanor Perlas, Jamby Madrigal, Gilberto Teodoro, Eddie Villanueva, Joseph Estrada, Vetellano Acosta and John Carlos delos Reyes have an online presence of one type or another.

The official website of Aquino, son of the late former President Corazon Aquino (http://www.noynoy.ph/main/index.php) is a virtual campaign headquarters -- with interactive links to his other sites, campaign buttons, badges and other merchandise.

Known by his nickname Noynoy, the senator has 697,855 fans on his Facebook page, whose Frequently Asked Questions page has information as serious as his platform of government to the mundane, such as why he uses a different middle initial. He has nine websites.

His vice presidential running mate, Mar Roxas, takes a more personal approach to his Facebook fan page, which has 139,264 fans, via testimonials and fan photos.