MANILA, Philippines - Days before people commemorate the Day of the Dead, Sen. Koko Pimentel (photo) taps the undead to deliver a reminder about cheating.
Already on rotation on free TV and steadily gaining ground on YouTube, the commercial is set in Bagong Barangay where people are lining up to register for the elections. A seemingly “strict” Comelec representative had just rejected a registrant with expired ID when the guy behind him walks up for his turn. Looking up, the rep comes face to face with a zombie!
Or is it? The rep can’t be too sure. The Barong Tagalog-clad registrant may be smelly and rotting but you don’t judge a book by its cover, do you? So, the rep accepts his ID, gives him a second, even a third look then proceeds to quiz him.
“Ikaw ba talaga si Raymond Villanueva?” she asks sternly, reading the name out on the ID. The registrant nods, unable to speak.
“Taga-Bagong Barangay ka ba talaga?” Yes, yes, the zombie motioned. His left ear falls off.
The rep looks at the zombie intently. The zombie looks back. People look on.
Then horror of horrors: The rep lets the zombie through and proceeds to fingerprint it. As she guides the zombie’s hands, its arms detach from the sockets. People scream.
Sen. Pimentel, in dead serious tone and deadpan expression, drives the point home.
“Zombie votes, pandaraya yan! Pag di ka nagpa-rehistro, parang nagpadaya ka na rin. Di lang ng mga buhay. Pati din ng zombie voters. Use your Kokote. Register and vote well. Kundi, patay! Nadaya na naman ang Pilipinas.”
Dead-on.