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Election Campaign in the Philippines

About the Author

The author of this blog started as a student, church and barangay youth organizer.  After qualifying as a voter, the author volunteered as a community organizer for a local congressional candidate.  From being an organizer for a local politician, the author was later tapped by a senatorial candidate to organize campaigns in Iloilo.  In 2004, a presidential candidate appointed the author to be his national coordinator for the Visayas.  In 2012, the author was contracted by an incumbent senator to head his Political Affairs Office.  The author again actively campaigned during the 2010 Presidential Election in support of national candidates. He is currently a member of the Association of Political Consultants in Asia.   
About this Blog
Work Experience
Election ias an activity that greatly interests every Filipino.  The primary actor of every election is the candidate for public office.  Aside from him, however, there are secondary actors in the effort, including financiers, public relations practitioners, media men, pollsters, community organizers and volunteers of these candidates.  But how is elections conducted in the Philippines?  The series of articles published in this blog will give the reader an idea on how election campaign works in the Philippines.

In the Philippines, there are two major elections alternately held every three years, namely the Presidential Election and the Mid-term Election.  The President, the Vice President, twelve of the Senators, the party-list representatives, the Congressmen and all the elective Provincial and Municipal officials are elected during the Presidential Election.  The Mid-term Election takes care of the remaining twelve Senators and again all the party-list representatives, the Congressmen and elective Provincial and Municipal officials whose terms of office are only for three years.  Aside from the Presidential Election and the Mid-term Election, the country likewise holds separately the barangay elections and the elections for the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao.   The electoral activities mentioned above do not even include the plebiscites, referenda, recalls, and initiatives that are also recognized by law.

Despite the regularity of these political exercises, no book has ever been published in the Philippines that extensively enlightens and guides its stakeholders on how to prepare and win in an election.  Books on Philippine elections that were previously published deal only with the experiences of the participants in it, but does not provide a comprehensive analytical approach on how election campaigns are made by the people participating in it. 

Lessons and references are disjointedly taken mostly from opinion leaders, candidates, political strategists, pollsters, political organizers, political officers and media personalities.  As a result, people have a hodge-podge idea on how elections are planned, conducted, and won or lost.

This blog was borne out of the author’s experiences in actual campaigns, which was later supplemented by lessons learned in books and workshops attended in the Philippines and in the United States.   

The author acknowledges that this blog would not answer all the questions of its readers on Philippine election campaign.  His experience and knowledge is still inadequate if compared to those gained by public officials who have been into several elections (e.g., Sen. Franklin Drilon, Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, and Former President Joseph Erap Estrada).  Unfortunately, these people have considered their knowledge and experience in Philippine Elections as trade secrets best kept for themselves and their political allies.

Also, the realities on the ground had clearly shown to the author that every place is unique and that no one rule can apply to all localities in the Philippines.  The author, however, has endeavored to somehow give the readers a glimpse of how election campaign has been done in the past, and how it can probably be used as blueprints for the future.  The author hopes that the publication of this blog would somehow contribute in the understanding on the intricacies of the Philippine Election.
12
Years
Campaign Organizer
Since 2001, the author has been working with national candidates in their organizing works. 
2
Years
Head, Political Affairs Office
The author was contracted by an incumbent senator to head his Political Affairs Office.  The author's legal services to his clients, however, constrained him to let go of said position.
18
Years
Lawyer
The author is a lawyer by profession.  He graduated from the University of the Philippines Colleged of Law.  He was admitted to the bar in 1998.  He is now a partner of Rosas and Jucaban Law Office, and specializes in corporate practice, real estate and information technology.