infomercials, ads, elections, campaign, song, translation

Unlike other countries which have four seasons, the Philippines only has two, wet and dry. Of course, the running joke in the country right now is that the year 2010 ushers in yet another season experienced once every three years - Election!

Actually, Filipinos are feeling the election season this early even if, as of this writing, no major personality has reportedly filed his or her certificate of candidacy for President, Vice President and other national and local positions. For now, they don't feel the pressure to do so as the deadline is on November 30.

They do, however, feel compelled to bombard the public with advertisements, if only to make people aware that they're still alive.

Those who have openly declared their intention to seek the presidency of the country are already being seen on television. And lest they be accused of premature campaigning, they are very careful not to directly call on the people to vote for them as they rely on hidden messages and double meanings.

Sen. Manny Villar (Nacionalista Party) has a series of infomercials promoting his virtues as a self-made man whose heart goes out to the poor because he used to be one of them.

Former President Joseph Estrada (United Opposition) has appeared in a TV commercial for an anti-arthritis capsule where he is shown jogging after being asked a loaded question in Filipino: Makakatakbo ka pa ba? (Can you still run?).

Sen. Chiz Escudero, while not being clear about his plans to seek the presidency after resigning from the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC), has his own series of infomercials projecting him to be a different kind of hero who can save the country as long as the people work with him.

Not to be outdone, Defense Secretary Gilbert "Gibo" Teodoro (Lakas-KAMPI, the administration party) also has infomercials on what good governance should be.

The current leader in presidential surveys, Sen. Noynoy Aquino, now has a much-talked about TV commercial more aptly described as a music video with an all-star cast and an original song titled "Hindi ka nag-iisa" (You're not alone). It's a veritable who's who in the Philippine TV, film and music industries, and it even includes well-known basketball players. Of course, this is expected as his sister is a major contract star of ABS-CBN 2 and she also helped in getting support from GMA 7 talents, ABS-CBN's main competitor.

Sen. Aquino's commercial and those of others have one thing in common: They are strong in form but lacking in substance. Even if they stress the need for genuine change (yes, even Gibo Teodoro's infomercial surprisingly delves on it), there is no attempt to categorically express their stand on burning issues of the day.

One can argue that they are just trying to introduce themselves to the public, but isn't it more endearing to the public if they immediately talk about specific problems like human rights violations and the failure of agrarian reform?

Don't get me wrong. The song "Hindi ka nag-iisa" drives home an important point that Sen. Aquino is the person to beat in the coming presidential election. That the biggest stars of the Philippines are behind him further strengthens his image as the front-runner. Then again, what is the message of the song in terms of where he stands?

At this point, please allow me to do an unofficial translation of the song so that those who are not familiar with the Filipino language can understand the message (and hopefully sing along when you watch the video).

Given the nature of the language, there are some allusions in Filipino that are lost in the translation to English, and I tried my best to incorporate the syllabication and enunciation based on the melody. Despite the limitations in the translation, however, I would like to think that I have been faithful to the message of the song.

Based on the lyrics and the visual representations in the video, the main objective of the song is "shock and awe."

Yes, people who read, watch and listen to the news are obviously aware that Sen. Aquino is leading by a wide margin in various surveys. But the fact that he enjoys the support of practically the biggest names in Philippine entertainment (and even some in basketball) should make other presidential aspirants worry about their chances.

Through this video, Sen. Aquino's political stock further shoots up as the celebrities provide an indirect endorsement to his candidacy. From now on, wherever he goes, he is expected to draw the biggest crowds as the masses anticipate and speculate on which stars he would bring, most especially once the campaign officially starts.

It is doubtful if other presiential contenders could draw the same star power as Sen. Aquino. As a result, I hope that they would be pressured to bring the elections to a higher level of discourse by discussing important issues, if only to provide competition to the current front-runner.

For his part, whether or not Sen. Aquino will go beyond the personality-oriented type of securing much-needed votes will only be known when the campaign actually starts.

But for now, all presidential aspirants are at their creative best in making sure that their names are remembered by the people. This picture of a streamer along a busy street of Manila is a fine example of how a survey cellar-dweller tries to endear himself to the public ("'yan ang pinuno" means "that's the leader"; "kakampi at lakas ng mahihirap" means "comrade and strength of the poor").

By creativity, of course we mean the ways in which the candidates do not get accused of premature campaigning even if that is what they are actually doing.

Yes, the election season has obviously started, even if not yet officially declared.