Two days more and we’re up to make the new president of the Republic of the Philippines. Personally, it’s a mixed emotions for me. While I do openly support a candidate, I’m not sure what’s going to happen when election precincts open and the votes start to come in.
Creative Business with Lloyd Luna
There are many issues to tackle and everybody seems to be overwhelmed and consumed by too many information from different media organizations. The people, especially those who are still undecided, no longer know what to believe. There are claims here and there and there’s just too much of political mudslinging.
Philippine election has never been as exciting as today. I think the technology has a very big contribution to both the clarity (or otherwise) of candidates’ platform of government and stand on different issues. The Internet has become a new venue for political campaigns and it’s audience are just too many to count.
And candidates spent millions on advertising on the web. Some candidates who don’t really know what Facebook or Twitter is about have “social network accounts” under their name. It seems to be genuine except that they are maintained by “political campaign staff.”
As an Internet technology specialist myself, I’ve seen how these candidates utilized the information highway to advance their campaign. Some became successful and many others are yet to find out. Even local candidates create Facebook accounts and campaign “in national scale.” For how much? Free.
Yes, sometimes it’s irritating having an invitation from a friend to vote for a particular candidate in a particular town or city, which is miles away from where you’ll vote. But that’s how “political campaign staff managing social network accounts” do it.
This year, we will elect a president who will lay a foundation for the next generation. Six years is long enough for a leader who knows exactly where to take this country and manage our government resources. For some who are not ready to lead, this election will give us nothing but a repeat of chaotic history.
That being said, The Vote 2010 is a crucial decision of the voting public, which may or may not reflect the sentiment of the people (and may even depend on how the first automated election would go).
