A Comparison of Philippine and American Elections: Yellow

Ribbons and Swing States

Last 2016, both the Philippines and the United States held presidential elections. Although both nations
have a democratic system of government, which is one of the American legacies in the Philippines, there are
interesting differences between them.

It is fascinating to see how the Philippine election style has moved away from the American one, and
how the styles are similar.

At the most basic level, the Philippines reflects the United States’ system of government in that it has a
presidential system of government, not a presidential-parliamentary one like South Korea, for example.
Additionally, the Philippines have three branches of government: the executive, the legislative, and the judiciary
branches.

Elections and voter rights tend to be considered the backbone of any democracy. The Philippine and
American democracies are similar in that elections form a large part of the system of government. After the
Marcos Administration, however, it was deemed better to have one six-year term than two four-year terms,
which we had before that. Maybe it was so that no one would get the taste of sitting in Malacañang Palace and
want to extend. But then, that already falls into how the elections are different.

HOW THE ELECTION STYLES ARE DIFFERENT

 SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

First, the United States has a federal system of government, while the Philippines’ is national. The Local
Government Code of 1991 has spread the power out somewhat, but the general sense is still that the Philippines
are governed nationally.

Although the federal system would make more sense, given that the Philippines is an archipelago, for
the United States government it was easier, from an administrative viewpoint, to treat the Philippines as a single
entity.

What does this mean for Philippine elections? Well, firstly, the United States has what they call
“primary” and “caucus” elections. In every state, a certain number of voters choose who they want to represent
their party (the two main parties are Republican and Democrat), and that person becomes the presidential
candidate.

In the Philippines, although it does have a party-system, it doesn’t seem to be a guiding factor for voters
(which are the understatement of the century). “Political turncoatism” is the norm. For the Philippines, the party
officials choose the candidates.

 MANNER OF ELECTIONS

The most obvious difference, however, is in the manner of elections. The United States has an “electoral
college” in every state; each assigned a number of votes based on the population of that state. Out of 538
electoral votes, a presidential candidate must reach 270 to win. This ensures that each state has the voting power
that fits its population.

Since the Philippines is national, on the other hand, the presidents win by popular vote. If a candidate
has the most number of votes in his favor, he or she wins. There are less worries about voter turnout per party
per state, and so forth.

 CAMPAIGNING STYLE

This state of affairs makes the presidential campaigning styles very different as well. Presidential hopefuls
in the United States target what they call “swing states,” or states that are neither majority Republican, nor
majority Democrat. They need the electoral votes in those swing states to win the elections.
 On the other hand, the Philippine campaigning style is to reach the greatest number (not the greatest good)
of the greatest number. Since winning is by popular vote, the need to win through popularity marks the
campaigning style.

Philippine presidential candidates campaign through nicknames, hand-signs, catchy theme songs and
multiple campaign commercials. The best part is that they can each pick their own color. Never mind just being
Red or Blue (the main party colors of the Republicans and Democrats), Philippine candidates can be Yellow or
Green or anything else as long as no one else has grabbed it yet. For example, the current president of the
Philippines won on a yellow ribbon.

KRISTINE JELIEL P. CAGANG

XII – ST. MICHAEL ARCHANGEL