TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT
BY JUN PRADO

Cramming for the Election campaign

Many non-government groups said they have hoped the campaigning for the May 14 congressional and local elections would focus on key issues like poverty but observed that it has continued to be dominated by entertainment provided by movie stars and political mudslinging. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

AS I write this column on this rickety old typewriter, I can see from my veranda in our house in Kalibo, Aklan facing the street hundreds of speeding tricycles, flaglets of different sizes and colors a-flailing in the air as they whiz and streak by to and from both directions. The bare fact is, these paid trike drivers don't care a hoot or bother less which candidate's names they carry as long as the price is right.
Then there are these jeepneys, vans, mini-buses, pick-ups - microphones a-blaring with home-made canned musical compositions hailing each others political bets - some pleasing to the ear, the others comical, sometimes outrageous.
These sound tracks start as early as six ayem, and I don't take them in as nuisances, noisy disturbances as they serve as my alarm clock to get me out of bed to nurse a nagging hangover from last night's boozing spree - and start a column like this one.
I never can't forget the time I was at university when I used to cram for the finals. Now, it's the turn of these wannabe senators down to the level of wannabe councilors throughout the width and breadth of the archipelago - to cram for their finals. This is one time in one's life when one believes that time really flies.
And that’s the finals for our aspiring and expectant candidates – all hoping against all hope for their respective victories in the very near forthcoming electoral process.
At this point of time, the point seems to indicate that the candidate with the best chance of winning is the candidate who is in the right place at the right time – when destiny comes a-calling.
In the context of the makeup of the voting population, the general perception of these so-called “traditional politicians” more candidly tagged as tradpols or trapos, these old-fogey candidates backed by political parties, no doubt, have been carrying a lot of heavy political baggage – a political word for money bag – as they go about into the poll campaign.
However, an estimated 70 percent of the registered votes in this country, according to Comelec statistics, are said to be below 35 years of age – which means generally young voters from generation thoroughly disenchanted with “traditional politicians.”
This may be the main reason why young blood has been injected into the veins of would-be voters in Monday’s polls. Young ‘uns like Loren Legarda, Escudero, Pichay and their ilks have been at the top of the popularity surveys done by such trusted agencies as the Social Weather Station.
Unfortunately, most such surveys are done in the Metro Manila area or at least in urban areas accessible to surveyors, and no one really knows the Pulse and sentiments of the rural voters to an accurate degree.
Conventional political wisdom about past elections is to the effect that the candidates popularized by media exposure of their views do not necessarily win the rural areas.
In the rural areas, what often counts is how the political machine can load the voters in trucks or make “hakot” to the polling booths and deliver the votes through legal or illegal means.
There is also the accepted fact that local politicians often have more than moral persuasive powers over the teachers who will count the votes, and the candidate who has no watchers during the counting of ballots might as well concede.
In short, while the tradpol and his machinery have a decided advantage, this is offset by the young age of the average voters; while those who appeal to the young by virtue of being young themselves could overcome the political machinery of these traditional politicians.
And to all the candidates throughout the whole country, this corner wishes you all GOOD LUCK and here’s hoping against all hopes on HOPE – Honest, Orderly, Peaceful Elections!
Godspeed!