DESPITE the heated contests among the standard-bearers of the Liberal Party (LP), Nacionalista Party (NP), Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) and Lakas-Kampi-CMD (Lakas), some of their local bets are teaming up with supposed rivals, blurring party lines and making party platforms irrelevant.
Political strategists and observers said local candidates are doing whatever it takes to win, securing the best possible configurations to ensure victory, even if it means forging alliances with candidates and parties on the opposite side of the political fence.
“Local teams are essentially formed not because of any party affiliation or consideration but in terms of other variables,” said campaign strategist Malou Tiquia of Publicus. She was referring to the organizational and popular strength of certain candidates.
Rainbow tickets
In Manila, for example, re-electionist mayor Alfredo Lim of the local Laban Para sa Kapayapaan, Katarungan, Kaunlaran (Laban-KKK) party has allied with the LP and is running with showbiz personality and re-electionist vice mayor Isko Moreno of NP.
“Originally, Moreno was supposed to run with (former Metro Manila police chief Avelino) Razon and would have carried the local party Asenso Manileño,” Tiquia said.
Moreno’s popularity, she pointed out, makes him an asset to any mayoral candidate in Manila, but he teamed up with Lim because he was looking at his own “fast track to the mayoralty.”
Both Lim and Razon endorse Moreno as their vice mayoral candidate. Razon is a member of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) which has not fielded any presidential candidate.
In 2007, Lim, who was then senator, ran for Manila mayor without a ticket. Moreno was then the vice mayoral candidate of one of his opponents, former Manila vice mayor Danny Lacuna.
In Quezon City, former congressman and presidential chief of staff Michael Defensor is running for mayor under the NP, while his vice mayor, incumbent councilor Aiko Melendez, is running under PMP.
Defensor is endorsing Manuel Villar, while Melendez is supporting the comeback bid of former president Joseph Estrada. Villar and Estrada are tied in second place in the latest Pulse Asia survey.
In Batangas province, re-electionist governor Vilma Santos-Recto’s running mate in the 2007 elections, Erwin Ermita of Lakas, is now in a mixed local opposition ticket. Ermita was the running mate of the recently deceased former Batangas governor, Armand Sanchez of NP.
Sanchez’s widow, Edna, who is seeking re-election as mayor of Santo Tomas town, has filed a petition before the Commission on Elections to replace her husband.
Ermita, son of former executive secretary and now Batangas congressional candidate Eduardo Ermita, is supporting Gilberto Teodoro, while the Sanchezes are supporting Villar.
In Isabela province, re-electionist governor Grace Padaca of LP is running with second district representative Edwin Uy of Bigkis Pinoy, a group founded by Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) chair Ephraim Genuino, a staunch ally of President Gloria Arroyo.
While Uy is now supporting Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, he was reportedly backing Teodoro’s presidential bid during the start of the campaign.
“As the campaign season progresses, there will be reports of candidates switching their party affiliation formally or informally,” said Yuko Kasuya, associate professor of Keio University’s department of political science in Tokyo.
Kasuya has been doing research in the Philippines since 1987. Her dissertation on the Philippine party system was released by Anvil Publishing as a book titled “Presidential Bandwagon: Parties and Party Systems in the Philippines” in 2009. She also co-edited a book titled “Politics of Change in the Philippines” with Nathan Quimpo, which was published just last month.
“These phenomena reflect the very nature of Philippine political parties that are constructed based on the principle of strategic alliance among politicians whose ultimate goals are to win elections,” Kasuya said. “Political parties are nothing but a convenient vehicle for politicians to form a makeshift alliance, since voters do not care about which political party a candidate comes from.”
She said there are mainly two ways to address the current situation. “From the supply side, or the politicians, it’s crucial to have a ‘political entrepreneur’ who invests in party building, not for winning his or her own election, but for the purpose of building party reputation and policies.”
“The other is from the demand side, which is from Filipino voters. If voters ‘punish’ candidates who change parties or who are not loyal to their parties by not voting for them, then politicians would change their incentive structure,” she said.
Tiquia agreed with Kasuya’s observations. “The multi-party system has destroyed our electoral democracy. There is no serious recruitment of new members, indoctrination, payment of dues and discipline,” she said. “Political parties today are only needed for nomination and the completion of the certificate of candidacy.”
Local bets endorse party-list groups
But the colorful political allegiances go beyond the national-local party connections as some local tickets are now also endorsing party-list groups.
“There is a trend to endorse party-lists because most of those running are former politicians prevented by term limits to run for the same position,” Tiquia said. “Besides, it’s easier to run as a party-list than in a traditional congressional district.”
In Makati City, the local ticket of mayoralty candidate Erwin Genuino, son of PAGCOR chair Genuino, is endorsing BIDA party-list. The anti-drug BIDA, or Batang Iwas Droga, is affiliated with PAGCOR and the elder Genuino.
Genuino’s daughter, Sheryl Genuino-See, is BIDA’s first nominee. She was a previous nominee of Bigkis Pinoy.
Some candidates in Quezon City are endorsing Bagong Henerasyon (BH) party-list, which claims to represent women and youth. Its first two nominees are former Quezon City councilor Bernadette Herrera-Dy and her husband, businessman Edgar Allan Dy.
Kontra Daya, a multisectoral poll watchdog, has asked the Comelec to investigate 40 party-list groups that supposedly do not represent marginalized sectors, including BIDA and BH.
With the way it is structured now, the party-list system “encourages the proliferation of small parties to get seats, which does not necessarily lead to fulfill the spirit of minority representation,” Kasuya said.
“From the viewpoint of party building, the current system does not encourage development of policy-, issue- or program-based parties with some substantial size,” she said.
Operation suman, espasol
Tiquia said local politicians are already experimenting with several innovative campaign measures such as coalescing with party-list groups. “Candidates are doing new tactics, but let’s see how they can ensure victory before we highlight such techniques and strategies,” she said.
“With automation, great emphasis is given to ensuring a prepared organization on Election Day,” she added.
Tiquia, however, warned of an “Operation Suman and Espasol” on May 10. She said some local candidates are considering away giving free suman and espasol to voters as they enter the precincts.
Suman and espasol are native delicacies made of sticky rice and are common, especially in the provinces. Handling suman makes fingers sticky, while espasol leaves a powdery residue.
“Essentially, the trick is to put a smudge on the ballot, hence rendering it a spoiled ballot,” Tiquia said.
The Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines, which tally the ballots cast, are sensitive to smudges and “anomalous” marks. “That has a tendency to lower the turnout of votes,” she said.
Vote local first
Tiquia said national candidates value machinery which can deliver votes more than political parties, while local politicians build organizations to get campaign funding. “What’s happening can be considered a total rejection of the multi-party system which results in such partnerships in local contests,” she said.
But Tiquia said despite the national-local coalitions, some local candidates are encouraging voters to vote for local positions first. “Some of them are saying, Hindi naman natin nararamdaman ang national, kaya mas mahalaga ang local (Some of them are saying that local contests are more important since people can’t really feel the impact of what national officials do),” she said.
In the automated election system (AES), voters would have to fill up a 25-inch ballot, which lists the candidates for national positions, including party-lists, in front and the local candidates at the back. She said with the new ballot layout, some local candidates fear that voters would not remember to vote for local positions.
Tiquia, however, noted that because of the AES, a lot of local candidates have spent considerable amount of time and money for voter education. “Even with a good organization, if their constituents have not seen the ballot and how the PCOS machine operates or are not familiar with the system, there is a high tendency for your voter base to vote incorrectly,” she said.
“The national candidates have fears regarding the new system simply because they will have to rely on their local supporters to encourage people to vote and ensure there is familiarity in the system,” she added.