Solon: Opposition losing voters due to negative campaign
Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Fri, 08 Mar 2019 07:02:25 +0000
Instead of winning voters, the opposition’s relentless negative campaigning has scared away possible supporters.
Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Jay Velasco said Filipino voters have matured well that they now abhor candidates who obsess at criticizing opponents at each turn of the campaign, instead of presenting their political platform.
Velasco, who is among the organizers of the campaign caravan of the Hugpong ng Pagbabago senatorial team, said negative campaigning is not helping lift the numbers of opposition candidates.
He said negative campaigning only helps the opposition camps in alienating the electorate.
“More than helping them, I believe that the negative campaign of the opposition is hurting them,” said Velasco.
Velasco, chairman of the House Committee on Energy, has joined HNP chairperson and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte in going around the country to campaign for the HNP senatorial bets.
“The voters want to hear what the candidates can do to improve their lives, what the candidates can offer to provide jobs, and what the candidates have to say on health care. Hopefully, they would focus on these important issues to help the electorate decide in the coming election,” the lawmaker said.
According to Velasco, the Duterte administration is making headway in fulfilling its promises, such as the exemption from paying individual Income Tax Returns of some 7.5 million people, increase in conditional cash transfer, fuel subsidies to public utility jeep operators, universal health care, free college education, and the massive infrastructure projects that generate jobs.
“These are the hard facts. These are the solid achievements of this administration,” he pointed out. “Does the opposition want the government to take these away from the people who truly deserve these benefits?”
Various pre-election surveys show that candidates of the “Otso Diretso” slate are performing poorly in terms of voter preference.
“If they inject a little positivity into their campaign, there’s a chance they can persuade the voters in their favor. Mahaba pa naman ang kampanya,” Velasco said.
Even Mayor Duterte daughter has described Otso Diresto’s campaign as “dark and depressing” for too much emphasis on negativity. (Ben R. Rosario)