The results of the second Standard Poll, conducted nationwide between September 21 and October 1, have been released. One thousand five hundred Filipinos from 76 provinces over the country, all biometrically registered voters, were asked about pressing issues that range from politics to traffic, from sexual behavior to television trends.
The survey confirms what we all perceive and feel, and lends the substance of numbers boost the credibility of our claims. For example, names of the politicians who seem to be preferred by the public are indeed among those who figured well in the survey. Those who seem to be catching up, or losing steam, are also shown as such in the poll conducted by this newspaper’s resident pollster. That is, if they were included in the list of names that respondents chose from, in the first place.
More than confirming what we seem to already know, the Standard Poll also points us to our behavior as a people—how we think and see our leaders, and what we think should be done to improve our lot. Even the apparent contradictions are telling. For instance, respondents seem to believe life is improving, much more than they did when the previous survey was done in May. Perhaps, because elections are around the corner, we are again prepared to let go of some of our cynicism. We allow ourselves to hope a little—that the next batch of candidates could offer us something new, something better, something real.
And yet our optimism seems to have little basis, if we are to refer to what is happening in the last few months of the Aquino administration. Numerous unresolved issues convey that the supposed daang matuwid of President Benigno Aquino III has taken us nowhere significant, and that it is more of a catchy campaign slogan more than it is a platform of government. Surprisingly, though, despite the numbers saying people are less satisfied with our officials’ performance on the job, Mr. Aquino continues to enjoy the people’s trust.
This would not make sense at first blush, but when we factor in the phenomenon called personality politics, everything would then fall into place. Indeed, Filipinos tend to attach significance to who a person is—who the parents are, what compelling narrative there is—rather than actual measurable, quantifiable indicators that one is doing his job, and well.
The numbers provided by the latest Standard Poll tell us much, not about the candidates and not even the issues per se, but ourselves. This is always good. Introspection and assessment are always the first step towards improvement.
The succeeding months will tell us even more as the actual elections draw near. We want more than illusory changes in the way we are governed. It is time to change how we view the people who over-promise only to under-deliver, and those who work too much on how they appear rather than what they do.
