I was browsing the web and blog-hopping for Philippine Elections-related posts. And I saw a blog post at Aczafra.com, asking the question: “Will Online Election Campaign Tools Win an Election?”
Reading further, the bottomline of the post was:
Web presence and online media coverage would have no significant effect on the chances of a senatorial candidate in the coming senatorial elections.
Now going back to the question “Will Online Election Campaign Tools Win an Election?” My answer to that is a resounding “Yes!”
To give everyone an idea, in the last elections this was how the senatorial race looked like (Data from Wikipedia):
| Rank | Candidate | Party | Votes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Manuel Roxas II | K-4 – Liberal Party | 19,372,888 |
| 2. | Ramon Revilla Jr. | K-4 – Lakas CMD | 15,801,531 |
| 3. | Aquilino Pimentel, Jr. | KNP / PDP-Laban | 13,519,998 |
| 4. | Maria Ana Consuelo Madrigal | KNP-LDP | 13,253,692 |
| 5. | Richard Gordon | K-4 – Lakas CMD | 12,707,151 |
| 6. | Pilar Juliana Cayetano | K-4 – Lakas CMD | 12,542,054 |
| 7. | Miriam Defensor-Santiago | K-4 – PRP | 12,187,401 |
| 8. | Alfredo Lim | KNP – Independent | 11,286,428 |
| 9. | Juan Ponce Enrile | KNP – PMP | 11,191,162 |
| 10. | Jinggoy Estrada | KNP – PMP | 11,094,120 |
| 11. | Manuel Lapid | K-4 – Lakas CMD | 10,970,941 |
| 12. | Rodolfo Biazon | K-4 – Liberal Party | 10,635,270 |
| 13. | Robert Barbers | K-4 – Lakas CMD | 10,624,585 |
| 14. | Ernesto Maceda | KNP – NPC | 9,944,328 |
| 15. | John Henry Osmeña | K-4 – NPC | 9,914,179 |
In the Philippine Senatorial Elections, the top twelve vote-getters get a seat. What separated Numbers 11-15 were roughly 1 Million votes. Senator Biazon barely edged the late Robert Barbers by 10, 685 votes.
What am I driving at? There is around 7 million total Internet users in the Philippines and an estimated 1.1 Million active Internet users. (By active, I mean people who use the Internet more than once a week.) Had Barbers cornered an additional 1% of the active Internet using population, that would have gotten him over the hump. Similarly, it would would have taken Ernesto Maceda (#14) 63% of the Internet electorate to get a seat. That number represents an increase of only 7% of his total votes in 2004.
I am realisitic to think that the Web and Internet will still take a few more elections before its true effects can be felt. HOWEVER, right now, a successful cyber-campaign can get middle-tier and borderline candidates over to the next level.
