2022 campaign: Lessons
Published Jun 8, 2022 05:02 am
THE VIEW FROM RIZAL
Dr. Jun Ynares
“What did the 2022 elections campaign teach you?”
That was the question a good number of friends and colleagues in the local government sector had been asking us since our proclamation as the winning candidate for the mayoralty post of the City of Antipolo.
We were recently given an overwhelming mandate by the people of Antipolo to serve as their local government chief executive for the next three years.
We obtained their vote following one of the most difficult and lesson-filled campaigns we had gone through in our more than two decades in the field of public service.
We shared some of these lessons with our friends and we now wish to share it with our readers. Here were some of these important realizations we had while campaigning at the local community level.
First, many of our countrymen have long memories.
Second, performance and track record truly matter.
Third, most of our countrymen take their right to vote seriously.
Fourth, social media’s influence has reached a new height.
In our sorties and caucuses, people we met were quick to remind us of promises we made several elections ago. They would either thank us for the fulfillment of such promises or confront us with our apparent or alleged failure to do so.
As far as voters are concerned, there are two kinds of “promises.” The first are the real promises – the commitment actually made and expressed by candidates. The second are what we call “ascribed promises” – promises we never really made nor said during the campaign. Some may have imagined we did, or simply presumed that candidates would have made such commitments.
Their long memories also apply to good deeds done in the distant past.
In our sorties in the more distant barangays, some people would come to us to say thank you for the help that were given to them years ago. There were those who would ask me to convey their gratitude to my father, former Rizal Provincial Governor Ito Ynares, for the health and education assistance they received from him decades ago.
Our countrymen have long memories. They keep both the good and the bad in their mental data for a long time. One who wishes to be elected and reelected to a public office must, therefore, make sure that the good outweigh the bad.
This is connected to the second lesson: Voters do seriously scrutinize a candidate’s track record of performance. “May nagawa na ba ‘yan (Has that candidate done anything for us)?” is a question a candidate cannot escape.
In the 2022 elections, performance outweighed promises. If people believed a candidate’s promise, it would only be because that candidate already has a good track record of having fulfilled his or her commitment to constituents.
One track record really mattered in the 2022 campaign – what the candidate did during the pandemic’s most trying period. The quality of the delivery of assistance and basic services; the handling of the strict lockdown measures; the provision of medical assistance to those who were infected by the virus – all these were closely examined by voters and served as a major bases for choosing who they would vote for.
That also showed that our countrymen took their right to vote seriously and that most of them went out to cast their vote. According to the Commission on Elections, close to 56 million Filipinos voted last May 10, a record turnout. That record was achieved at a time when the country and the rest of the world were still dealing with the pandemic.
We practically ran unopposed for the mayoralty post of Antipolo. And yet, Antipoleños went out in large numbers to help us ensure our victory at the polls. When we vied for the same position in 2016, we received close to 213,000 votes or about 70 percent of the total number of votes cast. There was no pandemic at that time.
This year, we received close to 260,000 votes or roughly 72 percent of the total number of votes cast. The pandemic did not stop our fellow Antipoleños from expressing their collective will through the ballot.
It was an emotionally-charged campaign period at the national level. The same was true at the local level.
It used to be that during the campaign season, political lines would be drawn between political parties. In the recent elections the battle lines were drawn even among friends and relatives. Voters were fiercely loyal to the candidates of their choice. They took their candidates’ win as theirs; the formers’ loss as their own loss. It was like they, too, were running in the elections.
More than ever, the winners will have to take the mandate they were given seriously. Their win at the polls came at a great price on the part of the Filipino voters.
*For feedback, please email it to [email protected] or send it to Block 6 Lot 10 Sta. Barbara 1 cor. Bradley St., Mission Hills Subd., Brgy. San Roque, Antipolo City, Rizal.
Dr. Jun Ynares
“What did the 2022 elections campaign teach you?”
That was the question a good number of friends and colleagues in the local government sector had been asking us since our proclamation as the winning candidate for the mayoralty post of the City of Antipolo.
We were recently given an overwhelming mandate by the people of Antipolo to serve as their local government chief executive for the next three years.
We obtained their vote following one of the most difficult and lesson-filled campaigns we had gone through in our more than two decades in the field of public service.
We shared some of these lessons with our friends and we now wish to share it with our readers. Here were some of these important realizations we had while campaigning at the local community level.
First, many of our countrymen have long memories.
Second, performance and track record truly matter.
Third, most of our countrymen take their right to vote seriously.
Fourth, social media’s influence has reached a new height.
In our sorties and caucuses, people we met were quick to remind us of promises we made several elections ago. They would either thank us for the fulfillment of such promises or confront us with our apparent or alleged failure to do so.
As far as voters are concerned, there are two kinds of “promises.” The first are the real promises – the commitment actually made and expressed by candidates. The second are what we call “ascribed promises” – promises we never really made nor said during the campaign. Some may have imagined we did, or simply presumed that candidates would have made such commitments.
Their long memories also apply to good deeds done in the distant past.
In our sorties in the more distant barangays, some people would come to us to say thank you for the help that were given to them years ago. There were those who would ask me to convey their gratitude to my father, former Rizal Provincial Governor Ito Ynares, for the health and education assistance they received from him decades ago.
Our countrymen have long memories. They keep both the good and the bad in their mental data for a long time. One who wishes to be elected and reelected to a public office must, therefore, make sure that the good outweigh the bad.
This is connected to the second lesson: Voters do seriously scrutinize a candidate’s track record of performance. “May nagawa na ba ‘yan (Has that candidate done anything for us)?” is a question a candidate cannot escape.
In the 2022 elections, performance outweighed promises. If people believed a candidate’s promise, it would only be because that candidate already has a good track record of having fulfilled his or her commitment to constituents.
One track record really mattered in the 2022 campaign – what the candidate did during the pandemic’s most trying period. The quality of the delivery of assistance and basic services; the handling of the strict lockdown measures; the provision of medical assistance to those who were infected by the virus – all these were closely examined by voters and served as a major bases for choosing who they would vote for.
That also showed that our countrymen took their right to vote seriously and that most of them went out to cast their vote. According to the Commission on Elections, close to 56 million Filipinos voted last May 10, a record turnout. That record was achieved at a time when the country and the rest of the world were still dealing with the pandemic.
We practically ran unopposed for the mayoralty post of Antipolo. And yet, Antipoleños went out in large numbers to help us ensure our victory at the polls. When we vied for the same position in 2016, we received close to 213,000 votes or about 70 percent of the total number of votes cast. There was no pandemic at that time.
This year, we received close to 260,000 votes or roughly 72 percent of the total number of votes cast. The pandemic did not stop our fellow Antipoleños from expressing their collective will through the ballot.
It was an emotionally-charged campaign period at the national level. The same was true at the local level.
It used to be that during the campaign season, political lines would be drawn between political parties. In the recent elections the battle lines were drawn even among friends and relatives. Voters were fiercely loyal to the candidates of their choice. They took their candidates’ win as theirs; the formers’ loss as their own loss. It was like they, too, were running in the elections.
More than ever, the winners will have to take the mandate they were given seriously. Their win at the polls came at a great price on the part of the Filipino voters.
*For feedback, please email it to [email protected] or send it to Block 6 Lot 10 Sta. Barbara 1 cor. Bradley St., Mission Hills Subd., Brgy. San Roque, Antipolo City, Rizal.