I was watching on late-night TV the ‘debate’ between the two mayoral candidates here in Quezon City, Sonny Belmonte and Mel Mathay. Belmonte is the incumbent mayor, who was only elected last 2001. He claims that under his administration, QC was turned from being a bankrupt city to a city with a billion peso worth of surplus in revenue. Mel Mathay was a former mayor, who sat at the chief seat at city hall for nine consecutive years. Well, he didn’t deny that the city was bankrupt under his administration, but he claims that he has done a lot more others for the people.

AHAHAH! It was HILARIOUS!! Both mayoral candidates were shouting at each other in their arguments amidst the riot of a cheering their supporters were making. It was entertaining, really! Every whip by each candidate was cheered on by their own mobs, even before they finished their statements. It’s silly and annoying. Do they even think of what their candidates were saying? I don’t think so!

I was particularly annoyed with how Mel Mathay and his supporters were arguing. It was very typical of statements of support between traditional politician-provider and ignorant constituent-receiver. Ang sarap pagbabatukan! Arnel Ignacio (entertainer): Si Mel Mathay lang ang tumulong sa pagpapalibing ng mahihirap! Ara Mina (actress): Si Lolo Mel lang ang may puso para sa maralita!

In any case, former mayor Mel Mathay didn’t even answer directly the accusations by incumbent mayor Belmonte based on facts and figures.

It’s sad too. The debate itself was not a debate, it was a popularity contest with celebrities and entertainers supporting their own bets. Supporters cheered every word their candidate spoke, whatever the candidate said. It was more of, whose statement sounded better (or LOUDER), or which candidate helped them (financially) the most. It’s depressing! Such is a part of traditional politics in the Philippines. It’s a riot.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 23rd, 2004 at 3:03 am and is filed under Social Babble . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.