The wrong kind of advetisements

Barely a month before the 2010 elections, many political advertisements spouting nonsense had crowded television and radio airwaves to its peak. Most of them full of crappy cliché lines that only appeal to the emotions without any substance.

Take Villar for example. All of his advertisements rely on marginalized children who talked about alleviating them from poverty through his guidance. Noynoy on the other hand, advertised his parents (instead of himself) to boost ratings. Gibo, well he’s all about airplanes and how he can lift people up from their current state, etc.

With only a few weeks left to show their worth to the public, very few presidentiables have been giving the right kind of advertisements, like how a candidate can SOLVE poverty, how they might IMPROVE the economy, and how to DEAL with issues like corruption in the country. Most only employed flashy advertisements from known celebrities (Yes, even Villar’s kids were actors) that attacks the Filipino’s sympathy for change. Most relied on boosting emotion than prividing solutions.

I’m sorry to say this but most Filipinos are suckers for celebrities and entertainment. Instead of answering dire issue, we enjoy mudslinging in debates. Gossips and scandals are second entertainment for us, even though we know it’s not true. Recently, this presidentiable discovered showbiz news as fertile campaign propaganda by employing “chizmiz” for more air time.

This is the reason I hate Philippine elections because it is all about popularity contests and not issues. I get frustrated at many politicians who win because this celebrity endorsed him or that advertisements has a catchy jingle therefore we should vote for him. Haven’t they realized we are making the same mistakes again?

Instead of looking at all the glamour, why don’t we look at each presidentiable’s track record to see what these people have done for us. Were they able to author bills that actually helped the country when they were senator? Were they hooked in an issue while running in office? Do they have they skills to manage the country? If we made questions like that and apply them to the current presidential candidates, then very VERY few candidates would remain, and I assure you they are not one of those leading in the surveys.