Campaign Day 24: Survey hints bets should go back to school

Many candidates for the May 14 elections might have felt Thursday, the Campaign Day 24, that they should crawl back to their mother’s womb after the Social Weather Stations (SWS) underscored a damning reality about Philippine politics. Nearly seven out of 10 Filipino adults nationwide believe that no political party “truly promotes their welfare," results of survey conducted by SWS showed. The national survey, commissioned by the Ateneo School of Government and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, disclosed that regardless of area or socio-economic class, 67 percent of Filipinos say that no party promotes their welfare. Only 27 percent of voters, who are considered “party-leaning" believe that some political parties are promoting their welfare. Among those who got the highest score on this category include Lakas-NUCD-UMDP (8%), Liberal Party (5%), Bayan Muna (4%), and the Partido ng Masang Pilipino (3%). The survey, with 1,200 respondents, was done from November 24 to 29, 2006. The results of the survey were presented to the media in a forum Thursday on electoral and party reforms at the Diamond Hotel in Manila. Dr Dennis T. Gonzalez, associate dean of the Ateneo School of Government, said during the forum that the low percentage of Filipinos that are party-leaning “suggests that the parties have not sufficiently informed, inspired and persuaded the citizenry about their political visions, policies and platforms." He said the survey also reflected the observations made by University of the Philippines sociology Prof. Randolf David on the political parties’ lack of initiative to educate voters. David earlier said “party platforms are prepared mainly for submission to the Commission on Elections [and] are not meant to be a guide to the political education of the electorate, nor to govern the conduct of those elected to public office under party emblems." Best characteristics: Lakas, Bayan Muna, LP Respondents were also shown certain characteristics of political parties, and were asked which of the parties have the said traits. Results of this particular survey showed that majority of the respondents or 28 to 31 percent, regardless of class, say no political party have these six characteristics: • does many things that benefit the citizens • has noble leaders • has a realistic platform • recruits candidates who are truly qualified • interacts with many sectors • is faithful to the true will of the party members Lakas placed second in five of the six characteristics, with the following results: 23 percent say it does many things that benefit the citizens; 18 percent say it has noble leaders; 17.5 percent say it has a realistic platform, 17 percent say it recruits candidates who are truly qualified and 15 percent say Lakas is faithful to the true will of the party members. Party-list group Bayan Muna got second place in the party characteristic which says that it interacts with many sectors, with 17 percent of respondents, and another second place in the characteristic that says it does many things that benefit the citizens, with 12 percent of respondents. The Liberal Party (LP) placed third in four of the characteristics – 11 percent say LP has noble leaders; 12 percent say it has a realistic platform; 11 percent say it recruits candidates who are truly qualified and another 11 percent say it is faithful to the true will of party members. Party capability: Lakas and LP On party capabilities, respondents were asked which among the parties, have “great capability" in the following: • addressing the problems of the economy • fighting inflation in the cost of living • eradicating graft and corruption • promoting peace and order • reconciling with Muslim rebels • resolving the communist insurgency The survey showed majority of Filipino adults or 29 to 33 percent, regardless of class, says that no party has the capabilities enumerated above. Lakas-CMD, again placed second in all six capabilities, with the following results: 20 percent say it can address the problems of the economy; 15 percent say it can fight inflation in the cost of living; 16 percent say it can eradicate graft and corruption; 17 percent say it can promote peace and order; 15 percent say it can reconcile with Muslim rebels and another 15 percent say it can resolve the communist insurgency. LP placed third in four of the capability categories with the following results: 11 percent say it can address the problems of the economy; another 11 percent say it can eradicate graft and corruption; 9 percent say it can promote peace and order and 11 percent say it can resolve communist insurgency. Meanwhile, Partido ng Masang Pilipino was third place in the capability to fight inflation in the cost of living, with 11 percent. The Nacionalista Party, with 9 percent, placed third in the capability of reconciling with Muslim rebels. Party-switching: a neutral opinion Most Filipino adults nationwide are not highly critical, but only neutral, on party-switching after elections among politicians. David said a “neutral or indifferent opinion on party-switching is one of the roots of weak party discipline." In the survey, close to half or 49 percent of the respondents say party-switching is neither bad nor right. A third or 35 percent say party-switching is “usually or always bad", while 15 percent say it is “usually or always right". Neutral opinion on party-switching prevails in Balance Luzon (54 percent) among class D society (50 percent) and among high school but not college graduates (54 percent), “with the balance of opinion tilting toward those who say it is bad". Negative opinion on party-switching is most pronounced in the Visayas (43 percent), in classes ABC (42 percent), and among college graduates (43 percent). Negative opinion in class D is 33 percent. Candidate, more important for upper class When asked about the importance of the candidate versus the party in their voting decisions, majority of Filipinos by area and educational attainment say “the candidate and the party matter equally," whether one voted for a member of Congress (46 percent) or for mayor (44 percent). When voting for Congress, majority from class D (49 percent) and class E (41 percent) say that candidate and party matter equally. Meanwhile, 40 percent from class ABC say only the candidates matter, another 40 percent from the same class say that candidate and party matter equally, when voting for Congress. Only the candidates matter for class D (28%) and class E (27%) in voting for Congress. When voting for mayor, 47 percent of class D and 42 percent of class E say that candidate and party matter equally, while majority of class ABC or 47 percent say only candidates matter when voting for mayor. David said that “those who maintain the belief that candidate and party matter equally, class D should be their primary target of recruitment for party membership." GO capitalizes on poll survey The favorable poll results on Thursday fueled the opposition to step up its attack on the Arroyo administration. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, meanwhile, sought the help of local officials in boosting the chances of the Team Unity candidates. The Genuine Opposition (GO) said the result of the mock polls and the recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed that the anti-Arroyo sentiment is very strong among the electorate. According to Adel Tamano, GO spokesman, the survey results only confirmed the opposition's belief that the Filipino people would choose “principled candidates" for the midterm elections, especially those who are unafraid to speak out against injustice and corruption. "The SWS survey is a clear indication that GO candidates are on the right track, and their platforms and opinions reflect the people's real concerns," Tamano said. "They look to our candidates as their true hope for the future," he added. Leading opposition senatorial bet Loren Legarda was satisfied with the results of the two senatorial surveys that came out Wednesday, especially the survey reportedly commissioned by Malacañang, which showed her keeping the No.1 spot with a big 13-percentage points spread. "My 13-percentage points lead over No.2 in this survey jibed with past results of similar polls conducted by Pulse Asia, Social Weather Station (SWS) and Ibon Foundation, which had me leading by wide margins," Legarda said. She pointed out that the survey, which was reportedly conducted by an American polling firm with 1,500 respondents spread out nationwide, merely affirmed voters' preference as expressed in past poll. Re-electionist Sen. Panfilo Lacson said that while it may be too early for it to show a clear picture of the Magic 12, the latest senatorial survey shows that anti-Arroyo sentiment remains strong. Lacson noted that even the three Team Unity candidates in the Magic 12 are not "hardcore pro-Gloria." "It shows that the anti-Arroyo sentiment remains strong because the survey shows a conglomeration of Genuine Opposition candidates compared to just three Team Unity candidates," Lacson told reporters at a students’ forum for senatorial candidates at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila. On the other hand, Lacson said that while the survey is too early a gauge of who will win, it gives the candidates a glimpse of how to tweak their campaigns. Lacson noted that while some Team Unity candidates managed to squeeze into the SWS’ initial Magic 12, none of them are "hardcore pro-Arroyo." Arroyo appeals to local execs As if seeking divine intervention to boost the chances of the administration senatorial slate, Mrs Arroyo said she is leaving the responsibility of campaigning for the administration bets to the local candidates. Mrs Arroyo spoke before the Philippine Councilors League’07 End-term National Assembly at the Cebu International Convention Center after visiting the more than 1,000 families who lost their homes to a fire in Mandaue City Wednesday. The President said she would focus on her job of governance, particularly in realizing her goal of eight blessings by 2008 or the “8 by ’08." She said with the recent achievements in the economic front, it is time to ensure that the people feel this through social paybacks, which are itemized in her “8 by ‘08" goals that includes job creation, a better cost of living, a strong peso, more investments, pro-poor education, pro-poor healthcare, housing and food, green Philippines and a strong anti-terrorism campaign. “For my part, as President, I will focus on this ‘8 by 08’. To achieve these blessings by 2008, I will leave the campaigning to the candidates among you and that’s why because you’ll be campaigning as most of you will be candidates again come end of March," the President said. “Into your hands I commend the fate of Team Unity." She added that with the positive developments in the economy, she hopes that it would make it easier for the local government officials to win the continued support of the people. Team Unity campaign spokesman Joseph Felix Mari Durano said TU would continue to prioritize its “Pulong-Sulong" campaigns in barangays where they could genuinely educate the public on the coalition’s pro-poor programs contained in their 10-point “Beat the Odds" agenda. Durano said that under the “Pulong-Sulong" strategy, TU’s 12 senatorial candidates will split in three teams to present to local leaders and residents all over the country the “Beat the Odds" agenda. Durano said recent mock elections and survey results are not reflective of the outcome of the May 14 polls. He said Team Unity knows what it must do to overcome the propaganda of the opposition and they are hoping that the people would likewise give weight to the platform and programs that Team Unity is offering. Comelec cleanses list Close to 300,000 illegal, double and multiple registrants had been weeded out from the list of registered voters in the National Capital Region (NCR). From the 5,917,287 registered voters in 2004 the current number of voters in the NCR as of March 7 was reduced to 5,691,446 or about 225,841 delisted from the voters’ registration records (VRR). Aniceta Laceda, president of the Metro Manila Elections Officers Association (MMEOA), said the number of voters removed from the list were either those who have pending exclusion case, whose registration had been deactivated or canceled, or transferees and double and multiple registrants. “The bulk of the decrease comes from those who failed twice to vote during the national elections and whose registration had been deactivated," Laceda said. Laceda added that the number is also expected to either increase or decrease once they have completed purging the list. Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos attributed the drop to relocation of voters to nearby areas like San Jose Del Monte in Bulacan, San Mateo and in Montalban. “We are now in the processing of cleansing the voters lists," Abalos told reporters during the command conference held Thursday between the Commission on Elections, the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Philippine National Police. Based on the records of the Comelec, the biggest drop was observed in Manila, Quezon City, Pasig and Pasay. In all the four district of Quezon City, from 1,186,735 in 2004 it went down to 1,040,143 while in Manila, which has six districts and a total of 1,021,176 voters in the last 2004 presidential polls, the list was reduced to 963,887 in 2007. Other areas where the voters’ lists were also trimmed include Malabon, Muntinlupa, San Juan and Taguig. On the other hand, areas that posted an increase in the number of registered voters are the two districts of Valenzuela, Pateros, Navotas, Parañaque and Marikina City. Abalos, meanwhile, clarified that no voter was disfranchise with voters’ list cleansing. He said they have already ensured that these voters particularly those that were relocated had also their registration transferred for them to exercise their right to vote in the coming mid-term polls. "We want to see to it that those relocated outside of Metro Manila would not be disfranchised," added the Comelec. - GMANews.TV