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Vote Wisely
By Michael Alan Hamlin
September 2, 2003
A couple of more coups, and President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will be a shoo-in for re-election next year.
Or at least that seems to be the message in the latest presidential
poll. Ms. Arroyo jumped from an embarrassing fifth place among presidential
aspirants to a very respectable second place behind ABS-CBN television
host to the masses and now senator, Noli de Castro. Of 1,200 respondents
to Pulse Asia's Ulat ng Bayan survey, 21 percent favored Ms. Arroyo
as president, and 26% de Castro.
The poll was taken July 25 to August 6, and analysts seem in agreement
that the president benefited from the substantial surge in goodwill
national leaders invariably benefit from during a crisis not of
their own - directly, anyway - making, in this case the short-lived
July 27 mutiny. Ms. Arroyo rode that goodwill wave to leapfrog other
major contenders for president, notably Raul Roco (16%) Senator
Panfilo (Ping) Lacson (11%) and Erap favorite, movie idol Fernando
Poe (nine percent).
Aside from Ms. Arroyo's resurgence, there are a couple of things
that are interesting about the results of this poll. The most obvious
is the erosion of Raul Roco's popularity. Having lost his bully
pulpit when he resigned from Ms. Arroyo's cabinet, the former star
senator is having difficulty sustaining the visibility he'll require
to remain a viable candidate in 2004. Persistent rumors surrounding
his health and criticisms of his record as Secretary of Education
have also worked, apparently, to undermine his candidacy.
While there are obvious reasons for Roco's slipping fortunes, the
reasons for the stagnation of Lacson's position may seem less apparent.
Unlike Roco, who still hopes that Ms. Arroyo won't run and will
throw her support his way, Lacson has emerged as a vociferous, high-profile
anti-administration critic. But in so doing, Lacson may have become
exactly what he is ranting about: traditional politicians and their
endless exposes and shenanigans. Lacson appears to have quickly
forgotten that it was precisely these kinds of political attacks
directed at him that made him a popular underdog. Now, he's returning
the favor to the administration.
What these developments collectively demonstrate is again at least
two things. First, the presidential race is in flux, and despite
Ms. Arroyo's apparent "enviable" position as probable
winner by default in a field of uninspiring presidential contenders,
much can change in the months leading up to the May election. Second,
with talk show hosts and movie stars with no political or business
experience popular contenders, it's important that voters think
carefully and wisely about how they will place their votes.
Business, civil society, and investors have all worried publicly
and frequently about the importance of electing not just a popular
figure, but a credible, well-intentioned, and capable one as well.
While there's nothing wrong with electing a television host or movie
star with those qualities, the Philippines' unhappy experience with
former president Joseph Estrada demonstrated the calamity that is
likely to result from electing someone president for whom "president"
is synonymous with plunderer.
That's why IT practitioner and journalist Jerry Liao's new effort
to communicate the advantages of voting wisely is so welcome. Liao
recently setup an Internet site dubbed VoteWisely.com (www.votewisely.com)
The site acts as a portal providing centralized access to news reports,
step-by-step directions on how to register at home or abroad, tips
on evaluating candidates, duties of officials, and considerably
more. Discussion groups are devoted to issues, candidates, and new
developments. Liao setup the site in the hope that better informed
voters will vote, well, wisely.
I talked with Liao recently about the site, and he suggested a number
of advantages it offers to users. They include: 1) Provides real-time
information about candidates to the electorate; 2) Enables our electorate
regardless of their status in society, to share their thoughts and
opinions with everyone; 3) Acts as a venue where people can have
intelligent discussions about the elections and the candidates;
4) Provides video-on-demand technology so that the electorate can
watch and listen to candidates' messages, videos and interviews;
5) Integrates SMS technology with the Internet to enable the electorate
to join and share their opinions using their mobile devices - anytime
and anywhere; 6) Enables the electorate to compare all candidates
to help them elect the right person for the right position; 7) Enables
foreign investors to get a glimpse of what our future leaders have
in mind, boost the country's investment program as a result; and
8) For our modern heroes - our OFWs - provides a venue to communicate
with our candidates and voters here in the Philippines.
The site is encouraging for another reason
as well, and this is an important reason. Liao is actually doing
something to make things better, instead of just talking about it.
(Michael Alan Hamlin is the managing director of consultancy TeamAsia
and the author of three books on Asian economies and companies.
His latest book is Marketing Asian Places, of which he is
a co-author (Wiley, 2001), and he is currently at work on High
Visibility: The Making and Marketing of Asian Professionals into
Celebrities. Write him at mahamlin@teamasia.com.).
Copyright © 2003 Michael Alan
Hamlin. All Rights Reserved.
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