Election Time

In a place devoid of fact checkers, easy access to internet for many and many people illiterate, exposure is the best tactic. As evidenced by the millions of posters with candidates faces, names and the number voters have to check off for them and jingles. OMG the JINGLES! Starting at 6AM candidate teams send out their cars, vans, trikes and jeepneys to play popular songs (think Gangam Style, Poker Face, You Don't Know Your Beautiful) but with the lyrics changed to promote the candidate. We've been getting a lot of brown outs in our area lately and the joke among volunteers here is that it's so it will be easier for people to hear the jingles.

"I think there is divine intervention," said my Papa Dick. he continued so say that this woman who won senator in Cam Sur, her husband was shot because of this election. Even Corazon Aquino, her husband was shot at the airport. It is someone above giving a message. And now Beningo Aquino is President. According to my Papa Dick, people who have a family member killed because of politics are more likely to be elected to office because of God. It also could be because those people have received so much press for the ordeal. This Al Jazeera article explains another reason why these people are likely to be elected. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/05/2013511104835690790.html

It was peaceful in my area for elections. Even though it's peaceful, it doesn't mean that people aren't paid off to vote. People go around door to door passing out mock ballots with money stapled inside. My neighborhood smelled of very fragrant food the morning after election, and I swear it's because people had more money to buy better and more food.

One last comment on the election that will always stay with me. The people around me were OBSESSED with the US Presidential election. with the exception of 3 people, everyone I knew here supported Obama. However, after the election my office couldn't stop talking how much they admired Mitt Romney. "What? I thought you liked Obama?" I said to them. "Oh, we do, but we can tell Mitt Romney is a good man because of his concession speech. He lost gracefully. We wish that could happen here," they responded. It has been described to me that in an election where there are either winners or those who are cheated, I can understand now why my office admired Mitt Romney so much.