Manila: The Philippines’ election season kicked off Friday with TV celebrities, political scions and at least one inmate expected to be among thousands of candidates vying for posts from president to town councillor.
A week-long registration process launches a typically noisy and deadly seven months of campaigning for more than 18,000 positions—but the raging pandemic and economic misery caused by Covid lockdowns could dampen the party atmosphere.
A successor to President Rodrigo Duterte, who is constitutionally barred from seeking a second six-year term, will be elected in the May ballot that is expected to draw more than 60 million voters.
Duterte, who polls show remains almost as popular as when he swept to victory in 2016 on a promise to rid the country of drugs, has declared he will run for the vice-presidency.
Among the front runners to replace him are his daughter, Sara, and ally Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, son and namesake of the country’s former dictator.
Ex-actor and city mayor Francisco Domagoso—known by his screen name Isko Moreno—and newly retired boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao are planning to run. Pacquiao, a senator, was driven in a bus emblazoned with “Man of Destiny” to register for the race on Friday.
A Facebook Live broadcast of the journey through Manila’s morning traffic showed scores of supporters standing beside the road, waving the national flag.
Pacquiao dismissed a recent poll showing him in fourth place for preferred president as “just a number”.
Days after announcing his retirement from boxing Pacquiao filed his certificate of candidacy. Pacquiao’s wife Jinkee accompanied him upon filing his candidacy before the Commission on Elections on the first day of filing on Friday.
The presidential aspirant filed his candidacy along with Rep. Lito Atienza (Buhay Party-list), who will be his running mate.
A faction of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), led by the boxer-turned-senator himself, earlier nominated Pacquiao as their standard bearer for the 2022 polls.
The other wing, led by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, nominated Senator Bong Go and President Rodrigo Duterte as their presidential and vice presidential candidates, respectively.
Pacquiao filed his candidacy with the Progressive Movement for the Devolution of Initiative (PROMDI), a party founded by former Cebu Governor Lito Osmeña.
Pacquiao on Thursday announced he is quitting boxing, the sports that gave him “the chance to fight my way out poverty” and “the courage to change more lives.”
As he sets his sights on presidency, Pacquaio has vowed to tackle poverty and corruption.
In a survey released by Pulse Asia this week, Pacquaio ranked fourth among potential candidates for president, with 12pc said they would vote for him. Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte led the survey.
“Survey is just a number. The voices of small people, those who are suffering have yet to be heard,” he said in Filipino when he filed his candidacy.
Pacquiao served as a congressman of Sarangani province for two terms and was then elected for a six-term in the Senate in 2016. The filing of COC will be from October 1 to 8.
Election campaigns in the chaotic democracy are normally raucous and star-studded with contenders deploying celebrities to pull crowds to rallies.
Candidates are expected to perform on stage, with their charisma, singing and dancing judged more critically than their policies.
“It is a circus,” political analyst Tony La Vina told AFP.
“People have a sense that in this brief moment, they are the boss, to be wooed by suitors whom they demand sing, dance, act as clowns.”
This election season could be less festive, analysts said—though probably just as deadly as some politicians resort to violence to eliminate rivals.
Campaigning will be largely on social media platforms, La Vina predicted, as surging infections and the glacial pace of vaccinations restrict mass gatherings.
In a country where personality and name recognition are key to winning votes, that could improve the chances of lesser-known candidates, said Ronald Mendoza, dean of Manila’s Ateneo School of Government.
