THE Commission on Elections has recently implemented the election gun ban, meaning that the election period is officially on. Unlike in previous polls, however, most of the candidates seem not bent on prematurely campaigning, at least in the open—save, of course for a few. At the local level, tarpaulins proclaiming the candidacies of local politicians are few. The restraint of local politicians is amazing, sort of.
I remember one local election years ago when candidates didn’t show any restraint. On walls were pasted the family names of some candidate for Cebu City councilor in crude, bold letters even before the election period was officially on. Tarpaulins weren’t the fad then. Only the family names could be read, but because these were everywhere they caught public attention. These served as introductory campaign materials—creative premature campaigning.
Some senatorial candidates are already doing the rounds. Former presidential daughter Imee Marcos has been to Cebu a number of times. Some opposition senatorial bets have also been in Cebu. It would be interesting to find out who among these senatoriables would grab the chance of campaigning during the Sto. Niño fiesta.
I expect presidential aide Christopher “Bong” Go to be here. His supporters are also active here, hanging his tarpaulins if given the chance. The effort seems to be paying off because he is closing in on the top 12 in the surveys. Interestingly, Bong Go is among the few senatorial bets with television spots. His spot is special because it showed the President endorsing him.
There is a Cebuano term for that: “naning” as in “naningkamot” or trying hard. But the hanging of tarpaulins is not the only Bong Go method. The giving of financial and other assistance to calamity victims in any place in the country is another. Again, credit that to his supporters. Which only shows that Bong Go has a nationwide machinery. Or is he merely using the DDS (diehard Duterte supporters) machinery?
Another television spot I saw was that of one of the losers in the 2016 presidential elections, Mar Roxas. In previous senatorial elections he was “Mr. Palengke.” Now he is styling himself as an “ekonomista.” The spin must have been well thought of considering the current economic crunch, or the rise in the prices of basic commodities.
Roxas is making good in the surveys, which to me is not surprising considering his previous presidential run. The other loser in the 2016 presidential race, Grace Poe, is also doing good. And with their early campaigning also came the early backlash, especially online. Roxas is now the target of memes obviously created by the DDS and spread by them on social media.
Roxas is not alone. Bong Go, an administration bet, is also the subject of memes. One of them showed a giant tarpaulin with his image on it being used to adorn the bamboo wall of a crude toilet. The message was subliminal. It also reflected the disdain supporters of the political opposition reserve for his candidacy.
Expect more of these as we move closer to the elections. And it wouldn’t only be about the senatorial bets. Or just wait until the local candidates get bolder and the fireworks would be ignited.