Purple Vote vs White Vote: It was a tie

Published May 21, 2013 11:38am

The Reproductive Health (RH) law was an election campaign battleground, with the Purple Vote movement (pro) and the White Vote camp (anti) each vociferously backing their endorsed candidates. In the end, it was a tie, with six winning candidates apiece. But their positions on the RH law may have had little to do with their victory. There were other, perhaps more significant factors involved, most notably their famous last names and their relative youth.

With the results of the elections almost all in, however, a UP Sociology professor does not think the endorsements mattered much, as Pinoy politics is still a matter of whose last name you carry.

“Hindi natin masasabi na may direktang relationship 'yung matataas 'yung ranking sa mga bumoto para sa RH. Ultimately ang commonality pa rin ngayong eleksyon ay dahil sa pangalan more than sa issue na pinanindigan nila,” Dr. Nicole Curato of the UP Sociology Department said in an interview with GMA News on Tuesday.

Curato added that the lack of significant effect of the Purple and White Vote endorsements lie mainly in the fact that Pinoys have varying definitions of their own Catholicism.

“Napakarami rin kasing ibig sabihin dito sa Pilipinas ng Catholic vote [and] what it means to be Catholic, so hindi lang iisang pananaw ang mga Katoliko, medyo broad constituency din siya,” she said. Of those proclaimed in the Magic 12, six were endorsed by the White Vote and six from the Purple Vote. In contrast all were either relatives of those already in public office, or were re-electionist senators:

Poe — purple vote

Legarda — purple vote

Escudero — purple vote

Cayetano — purple vote

Binay — white vote

Angara — purple vote

Aquino — purple vote

Pimentel — white vote

Trillanes — white vote

Villar — white vote

Ejercito — white vote

Honasan — white vote

Curato noted that most of the 12 won because their of political machinery.

“'Yung heart naman ng elections meron kang choices kung meron kang pagpipilian. Ang nangyari sa eleksyon na 'to, 'yung mga kandidato that were able to run a decent campaign are candidates din na dynastic dahil sa political machinery na meron sila,” she said.

Age matters

Curato also noted that most candidates in the top 12 are young.

“Maraming batang kandidato. 'Yung average age ng mga nanalong kandidato nasa early 40s. Maraming nagsasabi na this is a big development. Pero 'yung isa rin nating pwedeng sabihin dito is nagkaroon ang mga batang senador na ito na tumakbo dahil meron na nga silang pangalan,” she said.

The candidates that have made it into the "Magic 12" have an average age of 46.4 years old, with eight of the "Magic 12" in their 40s. The youngest, Bam Aquino, cousin of President Benigno Aquino III, is only 36.

Gringo Honasan, 65, and incumbent senator Manny Villar’s wife Cynthia, 62, were the only two candidates past 60 who broke into the Top 12. Both are also at or near the bottom of the tier.

In the end, Curato said it is the stand of the senator-elects on a wide range of issues, and not just the Reproductive Health law, that will determine their integrity as lawmakers.

“Ang test ng mga mamamayan within the next 100 days [ay kung] anong gagawin natin para panagutin ang mga nagsabing senador na susuporta sila sa isang advocacy, mga nagsulong ng anti-dynasty bill, anong gagawin natin sa mga senador na nangako ng FOI. So sa halip na iasa natin sa senador o mga LGU, tingin ko mas malaki ang responsibilidad natin bilang mamamayan na siguraduhin na ide-deliver nila lahat ng pinangako nila ngayong eleksyon,” she said. —Patricia Denise Chiu/KG/HS, GMA News

Tags: eleksyon2013, purplevote, whitevote, rhlaw