Gibo is seen by his supporters as the ideal candidate for a president who possesses credentials that are superior to most other candidates. I believe his campaign strategy was the cleanest and should be a model for all politicians. But he remained at a dismal fourth place.
Unfortunately for Gibo, he had too many factors going against him. First, his party association with Gloria made him a suspicious candidate due to alleged corrupt practices by Gloria. No matter how he avoids being seen with her, his party itself made him highly suspect of being simply a Gloria successor to corrupt practices. Although Gibo clearly showed no tendencies to be corrupt, the suspicion was too great for most people.
Second, Gibo’s campaign slogan ‘Galing at Talino’ may actually have worked against him. In a focus group study by the Institute of Philippine Culture (IPC) (http://pcij.org/stories/the-poor-vote-is-a-thinking-vote/), the poor or the ‘masa’ value educational attainment but are highly suspicious of superior education. Because the poor takes the bulk of the vote, this may explain his very poor ratings in surveys and in the election itself.
Third, his party suffered defections which reflected negatively on his leadership capability. While the defections may not have been his fault, his poor ratings disillusioned key Lakas party mates. The defectors may have brought more voters away from Gibo.
Fourth, Noynoy successfully created a bandwagon effect with the surveys highlighting his winning chances and by saying that he should be voted so that one’s vote is not wasted and helping Villar and Erap possibly win. The voters may have agreed to the message that a vote for Gibo instead of for Noynoy would increase chances that either Villar or Erap would win. These two candidates were already effectively labeled as corrupt by the Noynoy campaign team.
Lastly, Gibo may have fared better if he waited for the next elections and occupied a few key government positions between now and 2016. He may have entered the game too soon.
But Gibo showed that politics can be different compared to the usual mudslinging festival we are used to during campaign periods. Conceding gracefully to Noynoy, Gibo, along with the other presidential candidates, showed political maturity that the Filipinos long for.
The automated ballot counting was a huge success despite all the criticisms that COMELEC got and minor failures and glitches happening with the PCOS machines. With very little time to do any anomalous manipulation of the results, the automation helped ensure a credible and peaceful elections.
The Filipino people should not forget the people behind the automation, COMELEC, Richard Gordon (author of the automation bill), Gloria (who pushed for the implementation of the automation despite all the suspicion of another ‘Garci’ episode), PPCRV, NAMFREL and other volunteer groups. We own them our gratitude for this historic event that earned us respect from other countries.
This is a sign that the Filipino after all, is ready for a positive change, the kind of change that Gibo campaigned for.