THE WHITE TABLE |
RECENT POSTS |
Publicity Trail
Publicity Trail
By Drei Bardos
Five days ago, a UP student asked, �Sinong iboboto mo?� The other one answered, �Syempre si (name of the candidate). Siya lang kilala ko eh.�
The campaigns
Before February 25, 2009, the date when UP students will choose their University Student Council (USC) leaders, what was seen everywhere in the campus was the ubiquity of slate posters, leaflets, and other handmade personal campaign materials.
Candidates for USC elections became noticeable for they wore their formal attires with their respective parties� banner colors. With this, they simplified the idea of unity.
Visibility had been their priority. The competition for publicity had begun as they came to classrooms to advertise themselves. Surely, they knew how to identify their disparities from other candidates by using humorous taglines that would carry out their names. During introductory part of the campaigns, the names were repeated thrice. What they aimed for was name recall�the factor that will put their names to the ballots.
Photo taken from http://www.collegiannews.multiply.com
No one had seemed to escape from the omnipresence of the candidates. Their gimmickry for the campaigns had started with the everyday distribution of leaflets which contain the parties� General Program of Action or GPOA, and the candidates� achievements and other aspect of their personalities that they think will buy to the students.
Students had been receiving the same pins and name tags of candidates to the point of having a wanted or, most of the time, unwanted collection of those colorful name stickers.
Slate posters and banners. Tarpaulins of candidates� photographs were like billboards of brand endorsers in EDSA. Candidates wore smiles which possibly tell the spectator that this University has a chance or the other way around.
Transportation advertisements. Who could have missed the maroon vehicle which toured around UP Diliman just to flag the posters of a candidate named Mario? The witty side of it was the vehicle churned out the theme music of the famous �Super Mario,� a computer game which sometimes being synonymous to a family computer.
Room to room or RTR campaigns. These were the most tedious way of campaigning yet could be an effective way of establishing rapport to the crowd because students were able to see the candidates personally. No one in the room was left without a handshake from the aspiring leaders. Outside the classrooms, they approached whoever they meet along the way, even a student who had just singled out himself from the crowd to study in one corner of a college lobby.
Fascinating were those candidates who tried to sell themselves without the traditional handshake of a politician. One instance was when a USC councilor candidate who wore a yellow polo on a Sunday afternoon at the School of Economics. It was before the Econ 100.1 examinations when he seemed to appear suddenly from nowhere, said a loud �hi,� and waved to the three students who were sitting on the stairs before the entrance of the building. At first, the students were apparently confused because none of them knew that candidate. The guy on the yellow polo came close to them without hesitations and started doing a small talk which begun with a simple yet caring question, �Kumusta? Nakapag-aral na ba kayo for the exam?� And the conversation about the test went on until he finally introduced himself as a candidate for USC councilor with a name which sounded like a character in a movie.
When asked about their impression about that candidate�s style of campaigning, they automatically said they liked it because the guy appeared like a friend or classmate, not a politician whose mere reason for approaching was to encourage them to vote for names.
Debate and Miting de Avance. UP Diliman students purposely went to Palma Hall last February 20 as selected candidates from Alyansa ng mga Mag-aaral Para sa Panlipunang Katwiran at Kaunlaran (Alyansa), Nagkakaisang Iskolar para sa Pamantasan at Sambayanan (Kaisa) and Student Alliance for the Advancement of Democratic Rights in UP (Stand-UP) and independent candidate Christopher Yu took the floor in the recently held head-on debate. The debate, which was organized by the Philippine Collegian and members of Solidaridad, a system wide association of student publications and writers� organizations, made known the candidates� position on issues regarding tuition increases, state subsidy, and student representation. The Miting de Avance took place yesterday with the candidates� last draw on their publicity.
The road to success in the elections has always been parallel to the path where publicity resides. But as far as the university and the Iskolars ng Bayan are concerned, leadership is no mere publicity. It would be endearing to hear this: �Sinong iboboto mo?� �Siyempre si (name of the candidate)! Kasi naniniwala ako sa kanya at sa kanyang plataporma.�
Sources:
http://collegiannews.multiply.com
QUICK LINKS |
salamin2009
ernicai.deguzman
ejd_villar
cla_shrimp
katty_luvya
jeffmeinard_ramirez
ellamariedimaculangan
ghladz.08
katrinaelainealba
lapinkaboo
FEATURED WRITERS |
Drei Bardos