How LP is cleaning up Noynoy’s campaign
By David Dizon, abs-cbnNEWS.com | 02/10/2010 10:43 PM
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/anc/02/10/10/how-lp-cleaning-noynoys-campaign
MANILA, Philippines – Last August 10, 2009, Nacionalista Party standard-bearer Manny Villar admitted that it would be difficult to take on Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III in the presidential election if the latter decided to run.
“Noynoy-Mar [Roxas] is more difficult. Mar-Noynoy OK lang. That’s because the public sentiment is with Noynoy,” he said, referring to the groundswell of support for the Aquino clan after the death of former president Cory Aquino on August 1.
Villar’s words seemed prescient at the time. Just days after he announced his intention to run in the May 2010 election, Aquino got an astonishing 60% rating in the Social Weather Stations (SWS) September 18-21 survey on the three top favored candidates for president, with Villar a distant second at 37%. (Read : Noynoy, Villar best leaders to succeed Arroyo: SWS )
Aquino supporters hailed the survey results as an affirmation that a sea change was happening in the political landscape. Some even likened Aquino to US Democratic candidate Barack Obama, whose successful campaign to become US president received popular support from the grassroots.
Four months after that first SWS survey, the balance of momentum seems to have shifted. A January 21-24 SWS survey showed that Aquino’s lead in the presidential race is now down to 7 points at 42% while Villar received 35%. (Read: Aquino’s lead down to 7 points in January SWS survey)
A Pulse Asia January 22-26 survey showed that Aquino and Villar were now statistically tied, with Aquino registering 37% of voter preferences and Villar getting 35%. (Read: Aquino, Villar tied in Pulse Asia survey)
What happened in the past 4 months? Has Aquino’s campaign really lost its vaunted “Cory magic”, a victim of Villar’s deluge of campaign ads?
A young campaign
According to Liberal Party campaign manager Butch Abad, the latest Pulse Asia survey underscored the need for the party to adjust its campaign strategy. He noted that unlike the campaigns of the other presidential candidates, Aquino’s campaign is only 4 months old and was birthed by a genuine desire by people to see Aquino run.
“Internally, this campaign is owned by so many groups. This was not a campaign that came about because of the ambition of one individual who starts raising money, putting up an organization and pushing his own candidacy. This was, as [Inquirer columnist] Amando Doronilla said, the second time in Philippine politics when someone was drafted to run for president and you have people from politicians, church-based groups and NGOs pushing him to run,” he said in an interview Tuesday on ANC’s “Strictly Politics” program with Pia Hontiveros.
Abad said that after Cory Aquino’s death, the groundswell of support sent all sorts of people and organizations flocking to the Liberal Party to help in Noynoy’s candidacy. He said this caused a struggle as various groups with different reform agendas gave different ideas about how to handle Noynoy’s presidential bid.
He said initially, some “purists” and NGOs even suggested that Aquino should not even run any campaign ads since there were so many people volunteering for the campaign.
“Should we run a people’s campaign, very pure, or a politician’s campaign? At that time, the way the campaign was projected, this is a people’s campaign. If the people want a president in the person of Noynoy, they would go out of their way to talk to other people, and that seemed to be the case at the start,” he said.
He added: “With different groups, there’s bound to be a clash of ideas, and some people may interpret that as an internal struggle. I’m sure there is a struggle of perspectives and ideas on how to run the campaign because these are volunteers who believe that they have the right to participate in determining the direction of the campaign, the character of the campaign. I think it’s the nature of the animal.”
Campaign ads
Abad conceded that Noynoy’s campaign had to take a backseat to necessary tasks in the campaign including identifying, recruiting and fielding candidates for the national and local positions.
He said the latest survey and Villar’s massive spending on campaign ads, reportedly P543 million from October to December 2009 alone, forced them to rethink their campaign strategy.
“The passion, the intensity of campaigning for principles and values sort of took a backseat. Now it’s back in the way our people are responding to this development,” he said.
As of January, former Radio-TV Malacañang chief Maria Montelibano is now assigned to head the communications and creative division of Aquino’s campaign, replacing Johnny Santos.
Abad said the communications division is particularly important as it needs to harmonize Noynoy’s campaign on various platforms including newspapers, radio, television and new media. He said the communications unit will also provide direction to the LP’s “sizeable entertainment section” for the campaign.
LP senatorial candidate Neric Acosta said the Pulse Asia survey served as a wake-up call to the campaign that it could not be complacent just because they had the more popular candidate.
“The ranks have to be more energized now because we cannot underestimate that the other side has a monopoly on the mobilization of resources that we have seen and the machinery via media such as TV and radio ads. If there is one good thing out of this, we know we cannot be complacent . We may have the message of hope, of change, of reform but we cannot rest on that,” he said.
Abad said the LP will be releasing more ads soon so that Noynoy’s message would gain traction among voters. He added, however, that the LP is not putting all its money into ads since they have to prepare for the long haul and spend on poll watchers until the end of the elections.
“We cannot spend everything on ads and yet in the end, cannot protect our own votes. We have to make sure that the little that we have would be very prudently used,” he said.
Euphoria settling down
Abad said the survey also showed that voters’ reasons for choosing a candidate continue are constantly shifting as the election draws nearer.
“The circumstances 5 months ago was all euphoria. It was like ‘Wow, dire-diretso na ito’ and then you wake up to the reality that once the euphoria settled down, you realize that there are other factors that you have to count,” he said.
He said most Filipinos say they choose a presidential candidate because he is “makamahirap,” meaning that he cares and empathizes with the poor. This, he said, was the most important reason behind voters’ preferences compared to other criteria such as experience in government, is not corrupt, is intelligent or is a good person.
Abad said Cory Aquino’s death last August changed that, as most Filipinos said they would choose a presidential candidate who is not corrupt and who has a clean record.
Pulse Asia’s January 22-26 survey, however, shows the balance has shifted again, with an equal number of Filipinos (24%) saying that they would vote for a president because he is not corrupt or cares for the poor.
“When Cory died, people suddenly said they wanted a president that wasn’t corrupt. And then when life became even more difficult, people became more pragmatic. The latest survey showed that being for the poor and having a clean record is at par again,” he said.
Corruption, not poverty, is the problem
Abad said that after the Pulse Asia survey came out, the LP campaign managers sat down with their creatives team to discuss how to better improve their campaign strategy.
One thing, he said, that they will not change is Noynoy’s message — that corruption, not poverty, is the biggest problem faced by Filipinos.
“Poverty is just a consequence, the bigger problem is corruption. Corruption leads to denial of basic services, which leads to poverty. Now how do you translate that? Especially the D and E, they don’t want to think too long about analysis,” he said.
He said one of the questions they had to answer during the day-long exercise is how to show the public what a vote for Noynoy would mean this May.
“By doing that, what will the voter get and why would the voter believe that you as the candidate is able to deliver that and how do you express that message in terms of colors and taglines. We had to go through that,” he said.
Despite all the obstacles, Abad said he remains confident that Aquino will win in the election.
“We have been leading from the very start and we are still ahead. Despite what’s been thrown at us including the kitchen sink, we’re still up there,” he said.
He added: “This is what we believe. This was not Noynoy’s plan. People told him that we deserve a president like you, someone who is not corrupt and will make sure that this country is going to change. That is something that resonates so strongly. And if we are just constantly in step with people and remind them and convince them that this is the kind of person we need, I think we will stay there.”
