When promoting a candidate, campaigns go through a creative process. The integration of trademarks for color representation, hand gestures, and taglines are applied to jingles, advertisements, and social media posts. This sets the tone as to how politicians should be perceived in the eyes of the voters.
Political jingles are originally created as an introductory number for candidates. It’s a summary of their advocacies and intentions, made to be easily remembered by the people. Aside from featuring entertainment, it has been an effective way to disseminate information. With catchy melodies and ingenious choice of lyrics, it captures interest resulting in an increase in public favors and votes. Philippine politics is a witness to some of the most popular and successful political jingles.
Manny Villar’s infamous “Naging Mahirap,” aired as a television advertisement in the 2010 Presidential Elections. It’s a portrayal of Villar’s sympathy to families in poverty and a message of having experienced the same situation before being a billionaire. Although he had lost, the song is still remembered by most more than a decade later.
Bong Revilla’s adaptation of “Budots” captured attention for his 2019 campaign ad. During that period, the song’s snappy melody became viral along with the association of its dance choreography. As it became popular among ordinary citizens, Revilla won his spot as a Senator.
Leni Robredo’s “Kay Leni Tayo” is voluntarily created for the 2022 Presidential elections and currently ranks first for iTunes PH. The inspiration came from Leni’s willingness to serve the country with perseverance and consistency. Whether the song will be successful or not is yet to be determined in the upcoming national election.
Ignorance of socio-political issues makes a person susceptible to misleading agendas as it could conceal misconduct and unethical behaviors. The gullibility of Filipinos might jeopardize the kind of government that administers this country. Creative plans such as political jingles are meant to glorify the candidates. A voter’s decision should not be based on successful publicities and the amount spent on campaign paraphernalia. To be responsible is to offer time to critically examine the platforms and credentials beyond viral campaigns.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the view of POLITICO.PH
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Kristine Mae D. Cruz is a senior student of Communication at Far Eastern University-Manila and is currently an intern at Brown Bag Communications Inc. under PageOne Media. As a student, she has developed skills in research and writing articles for websites and magazines. Writing has been a passion of hers as well as the occasional binge-watching of historical documentaries. With media as her line of industry, she intends to seek the truth and create unbiased content as a representative of the Fourth Estate.
