Although there is a law against premature campaigning, everyone of our so-called leading candidates are violating the spirit of the law. If we, the conscientious electorate are keen enough to discern the emerging patterns of politicking, we should realize that there is a confluence of shameless lies and incurable nonsense in most, if not all of the masked political advertising. The marketing managers of these candidates do not seem to have a basic respect for the brains of the voting public. It would seem that these campaign managers and propaganda wizzards are obviously lacking in fundamental recognition that the voters are intelligent enough to distinguish between intelligent ads and absolute garbage.
Consider, for instance, these ads that portray their candidate as ''pandak'' or ''nognog'' and claiming that despite his being an underdog, he was able to make a lot of things happen in their fiefdom. That advertisement claims that their candidate has served the senior citizens, helped in the education of the children of the poor and the powerless. It claims that the seniors are living the life of ''senoritos'' and ''senoritas''. This is a blatant lie. Such a style of campaigning is obviously an appeal to the public's expected sympathy for the underdog.It is an ''argumentum ad popolum.'' But it is a shameless lie because it omits the fact intentionally that, assuming those things were really done, they were all financed by public funds.
Another presidential candidate always makes reference to her late adoptive father who was an action star ''par excellence.'' By her ''mantra'' it would appear that she is trying to project that she wants to continue the good things that his dad allegedly started for the good of the country and the people. Now, come on, for the life of me, tell me, my dear, what has her father done to the nation when he was still alive, anyway? He was a hero, yes, all of us adored him. But his heroism was only in the movies he starred in. He was the good guy, the righteous cop or the avenging protector of the masses, the defender of the oppressed and the victims of injustice. But that was only for show. This candidate can not tell which is for reel, and which is for real.
Still another candidate always repeats and repeats this DAANG MATUWID slogan. He wants to continue what his master, boss, patron and predecessor has supposedly started. What hoes he want to continue, anyway? The ''laglag'' and ''tanim'' ''bala'', the monumental blunders in the handling of the Mamasapano tragedy, the horrendous traffic and flooding in EDSA, the refusal of this administration to lower income and business taxes, the many anti-labor, anti-poor and anti-human rights policies and decisions, like the shameless circumvention of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Prrogram. He should ask his boss what is the status of the Supreme Court decision that orders the distribution of the land to the thousands of desperate tenants.
Another appeal to emotions is an ad by an aspiring senator who claims that he used to go to school without any allowance. He claims that he knows how it is to be confined in the hospital and to be left alone by his mother because she had to go and do some laundry service, just to earn money to buy medicines. He claims that he used to work the whole day driving just to help his family make both ends meet. He claims that he was insulted, sneered at, and even evicted by landlords for failing to pay the house rentals. Now, assuming, without admitting that all these were true, do these make him a competent to become a senator of the republic. Do these make him better than all the rest of the senatoriables ? I don't think so.
Another bet for the senate is using the fact of his agency's having spent the billions worth of technical education as a capital to advance his senatorial ambitions. Why is he claiming that as an achievement? What value did he bring to the agency except being a son of a famous preacher ? And he loves to be called Mr Secretary. He was charged by the Justice Secretary and now he has the temerity to share the same stage in the political campaign. Another senatorial aspirant. Another hopeful is ''pa-ikot ikot'' and after he was called by Senator Serge Osmeña as an incompetent Cabinet member, now is running to become a senator. What do these candidates think of the Filipino voters, that we are all stupid to buy their lies and nonsense? My God, have mercy on us.