Sunday Essays: Topping a survey is not a mystery

TO GET the approval of the nation, one does not need the approval of everyone; one must simply earn the affirmation of the majority. This is a basic concept in politics and every politician is aware of that.

If some are wondering why Senator Loren Legarda came up on top of the Pulse Asia electoral survey, they shouldn’t because it’s no mystery. It’s simply because Legarda knows that concept best. She embraced that principle and she based her actions on that.

The Philippines is a third world country. Given that fact, it would be safe to conclude that majority of its citizens belong to the lower class of society. This fact served as gold-laying goose for Senator Legarda. She has chosen to act with the poor in mind, and this has been the key to her success in the recent Pulse Asia survey.

Lately, you can see in TV many unofficial propaganda commercials of various possible candidates for the 2013 elections. One of them is Senator Legarda. Her advertisement about women’s health may seem to address women exclusively; it is as if her sole purpose of candidacy is for the betterment of the Filipino women.

But if you take a second look and evaluate the message of her commercial, it is as if she was promising free medicine and medical privileges for the poor. She definitely knows that this would subliminally be music for the poor’s ears.

Upon the knowledge of her success in the survey, Legarda has openly said that she is inspired to work harder for the poor and the needy. Although her statement sounds fishy, we cannot absolutely determine whether or not it was intentionally said to generate more affirmations from the majority of the population of our country.

We can definitely say this about Senator Legarda - at least unlike some other politicians we know, she knows how to cite the source of her success properly. (Paul Tan)

*****

Sunday Essays are articles by students of Ateneo de Davao University for their journalism class.

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