CAMPAIGN ON: RACE TO PALACE INTENSIFIES

With only 8 days to go before the May 9, 2022 National and Local Election every aspiring Presidential
candidates are eager to take the lead and claim the seat for the Executive branch of the government. 10
individuals aspire to lead the nation of an estimated 100 million citizens. These presidentiables present
various platform and projects and the so called “promises” of development and improvement.
Campaign posters, advertisements and rallies were everywhere.

I believe that to become the president of the Philippines is an honor, a privilege and a
responsibility to uphold the integrity of the nation and its people. It’s a big deal to millions of registered
Filipino voters to see their most-deserved public servant in the right position and do the promises
he/she claimed during campaign. Various survey platforms provided numerous survey results in attempt
to test the taste of the people. The January 19 to 24, 2022 Pulse Asia Survey which was released last
February 13, 2022 showed that the former Senator Ferdinand Marcos sustained his lead with as their
May 2022 President with 60% of votes from respondents nationwide from a total of 2,400 adult Filipinos
who participated in the survey. He was followed by Vice President Leni Robredo with 16% of votes.

In addition, Marcos maintained the lead with unchanged 60% votes in the latest February 2022
Survey conducted by Pulse Asia again from February 18 to 23, 2022 with 2,400 registered voters. The
Vice President Leni Robredo was again the second pick. On the other hand, March 17 to 21, 2022 Pulse
Asia Survey on voters’ preference, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. effortlessly lead the race. While closest rival
Vice President Leni Robredo saw her numbers rising by 9 percentage points. Another surveying body,
OCTA Research with 1, 200 respondents from various walks of life, conducted on April 2 to 6, which was
few days before the May 9 election, Marcos Jr. scored 57%, up by 2 percentage points from 55% in
OCTA’s previous survey in February. While, Vice President Leni Robredo garnered 22%, a 7-point
increase versus the 15% she received in February. Another aspring presidential candidate, Manila Mayor
Isko Moreno Domagoso got 9%, Boxing Superstar and Senator Manny Pacquiao received 7%, and
Veteran politician and Senator Ping Lacson had 4%. Other presidential candidates included in the poll
were former presidential spokesperson Ernie Abella (1%), businessman Faisal Mangondato (0.1%), labor
leader Leody de Guzman (0.1%), and former Defense Chief Norberto Gonzales (0.001%).

Aside from various surveying bodies who conducted surveys to assess and determine the front
runners, huge numbers of campaign advertisements on television, radio stations, websites and social
media giants like Facebook and Youtube are rampant. These campaigns can be in seconds or minutes of
video presentation, audio recording or even digital ads showing their works and so called
“accomplishments” even individual who they have helped shared testimonies just to persuade everyone
to choose and bet on them. Kudos to their Campaign team various resources were maximized and
utilized to their advantage. However, the sad part of this campaign is the wide spreading of misleading
information that was referred as “fake news”. These evil tactics degrades the value of an individual and
it’s reputation. Also, promoting misinformation is an act of stupidity and desperation.
 In conclusion, I hope that after this intense race for the position may we feel and see the
intense intentions of the aspirant we have selected to be deserving of that position. May he/she
matched his actions and programs with the passion he/she have shown during the time she/he
campaigned to the nation and May God bless our Nation, the Philippines.