MONTEREY, California — On my second day in Monterey, Joe Livernois, the paper’s executive editor, took me to one of the “debates” the Herald is hosting for the purpose of choosing local candidates it will endorse in the November 4 elections. I found this unusual since not many Philippine papers endorse candidates, at least not officially. What was even more unusual was the manner in which the “debate” was held (which is the reason the word is in quotes): the five candidates were seated next to each other in a long table, and they took turns outlining their programs. There was no fighting, no harsh words, no real debating going on. I made this observation to Joe, telling him that in the Philippines the candidates all run on the same platform (maka-Diyos, makabayan, makatao, makakalikasan, or pro-God, pro-country, pro-people, and pro-environment) and so are reduced to attacking each other on a personal level during campaigns.
I guess this also has to do with the level of education the voters have. In Monterey, and in much of the US, people are more educated and can thus stand watching candidates present their platforms. In the Philippines, the masses are largely undereducated and can be swayed to vote for the candidate who gives the best show, or who can give them the most money, or who can threaten them with the worst physical harm. Many suspect that government officials purposely give low priority to education because they know that an educated masses will vote on the basis of platforms and issues, not guns, goons, or gold. In other words, the only way they can get elected and reelected is by keeping the people ignorant and/or afraid.
Now I know that things get nasty on the national level of elections here, but it was both refreshing and depressing to see that in the local level, campaigns are so civil. Refreshing because I realized that politicians can still be decent, but depressing because that is not the case in the Philippines — at least not yet. I am wondering if we can ever get to the point where we can argue on issues and not on personality, where campaigns are built around debates and not on attacks.
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