Ambidextr Media

One will know when it’s election season again in the Philippines if every corner of every street in every barangay of every city becomes noisy and full of papers with faces once again. From morning till before evening, countless and tirelessly consecutive campaign trucks will do everything to boost every political candidate’s campaign song on every street they drive through. Flyers, tarpaulins, and billboards will be all about the election’s running candidates and their faces.

Of course, with the rise of the new media, advertisements all over social media platforms and even on television will be filled again with candidate after candidate, campaign song after campaign song, and convincing platform after platform.

The 2025 Philippine Senate Election will happen soon. Soon enough, everywhere you look, you’ll see their smiling faces as if convincing every person passing by to vote for them. With every commercial break comes another campaign video that is a minute or two, long enough and just right to bring about a political candidate’s real intention or a facade that could convince every registered voter to give them a chance.

They are all over the place, and it’s a lot! And you’re forced to wonder, especially after the elections, “Who did we really vote for?”. Was it the candidate whose heart is for the people or their media presence?

We may have heard the word “budol”. More often than not, this word gets associated with purchasing specific products. We usually say we got “budol-ed” when something is not worth the money and effort. But the form of “budol” comes in many forms. It also comes in the form of people.

“Budol” also comes in the form of the political candidates we are to elect and we have elected.

The rise of new media affected not only the day-to-day personal lives of every person but also the way politics move in the country. With many trends coming out and about almost every day, it is effortless to get the tickle of the people through their election campaign advertisements. 

To be a politician is to be one of the people, so it is not a shock when a political candidate goes through heaven and hell to have an appeal to potential voters. And just like any other advertisement, the goal has always been to be remembered.

The campaign ads’ creators have the power to present the political candidate and how the viewers will perceive them. They can succumb to a trend just as a known senator did by using the dance music of Budots in his campaign ads.

They can appeal to the older voters and the young people through current trends. With this, people will almost immediately think he is for the people and is in touch with the realities of the country and its citizens.

Campaign ads can also be in the form of storytelling — how they came from being a “simpleng tao” to someone who can change the lives of the citizens in the country. Just as the effects on the special commercials of Jollibee and McDo, their purpose is to tug the hearts of these voters.

To convince them that, again, they are for the people.

Many political candidates succumb to this campaigning because, through storytelling, people can remember a person, relate to and rely on them, and see how they care for the people they are to serve soon.

These campaign ad tactics vary; they work to the voter’s advantage and disadvantage. Voters can fall into the trap of these ads without knowing who they will vote for because these can be an easy way out for voters and political candidates.

These campaigns are an easy way out for the candidate to secure a seat in the palace and an easy way out for the voter from doing extensive research on their chosen candidate.

Blog by Cyra Aleeza Benosa