Noynoy Aquino was a most reluctant candidate. In fact, he was an anti-candidate: the antithesis of the prototypical politician seeking election to public office. He was neither eloquent nor charismatic. He was averse to delivering sound bites that could produce dramatic headlines next day. But as the campaign progressed, people began to see him evolve into a more confident, more adept campaigner. Here are notes from a memorable campaign:
Saturday, January 8, 2010 at the La Salle Zobel Auditorium, Ayala Alabang, Muntinlupa City:
He was the first to arrive. He was also the first to answer every question from the forum moderator. It was one of the earliest debates of the campaign. On the morning of that day, the newspaper announced that his leading rival had closed in on him in the presidential voter preference surveys.
Before Christmas 2009, he enjoyed what many thought was an insurmountable lead: 45-23 in Pulse Asia and 46-29 in SWS. But Manny Villar had narrowed the gap to just 11 points in the SWS poll at 33 to 44. By that time, the effects of massive TV advertising by Villar became evident. He had spent almost a billion pesos for TV ads during the “window of opportunity” before the start of the election campaign when there was no spending limit.
Even children had memorized the lyrics of Villar’s jingle: “Nakaligo na ba kayo sa dagat ng basura, nag-Pasko na ba kayo sa gitna ng kalsada…”
The Noynoy Aquino campaign was just beginning to be organized. It had been launched only four months earlier, on Sept. 9, the 40th day after the death of the candidate’s mother.
Villar and Dick Gordon hammered Noynoy on the issue of competence and performance.
Many in the audience observed that Noynoy was not a very effective public speaker. He did not project his voice loudly enough. He spoke very fast. He did not deliver punch lines. He gave very lengthy answers and explanations. It just wasn’t easy for him to get to the focal points of an issue.
I wrote in an e-mail to fellow volunteers in the campaign organization: “In terms of audience impact, he probably ranked third behind Gordon and Gibo, who were more articulate and eloquent. In terms of audience empathy, I still believe he was the most loved.” Even after the debate, many of those who wore the colors of his rivals, begged to have their pictures taken with him.
Take note that this happened one month before the start of the official campaign on February 9. Now let’s move fast forward to just three and a half weeks before election day.
Thursday, 15 April 2010 – Great Eastern Hotel, Quezon City:
He strode into the hall confidently, shook hands, then got the wireless mike. He began speaking --- no, not speaking, but conversing with his audience. He wore a trademark yellow campaign shirt. He faced a veritable sea of yellow. ‘Yellow Force’ read the emblem on their shirts. These were more than 300 regional, provincial and city coordinators of the Yellow Force that was committed to guard his votes on election day.
They had just been through a day-long briefing and orientation on how to organize groups of at least 50 volunteers for each of the more than 76,000 clustered precincts. What his campaign lacked in money, it was more than made up for by many hearts, many heads, many hands and feet of tens of thousands of volunteers. They came from four main organizations: Noynoy Aquino for President Movement (NAPM), Tuloy Pnoy, Mabuting Pilipino, and NoyPI (for Noynoy for President Initiative).
He had been through several days of out-of-town sorties mostly in Eastern Visayas.
He narrated how difficult it was for him to get any reasonable measure of private time since the start of the campaign on February 9.
He thought for a while he could snatch some while riding on Ro-Ro vessels. But no, when passengers learned he was aboard, they all --- repeat, all --- insisted on having their pictures taken with him. And there were several decks of passengers on Ro-Ro vessels.
Of course, it was even more difficult on the road, during the day.
The point was reached when local contacts were informed of his arrival barely an hour before the plane touched down at the airport. Giving them a longer lead time or advance notice would have meant more motorcades, more interviews, more rallies than could be packed reasonably into a campaign day and night.
Still and all, it was well worth it. Everywhere he went, he said, the crowds came out, not just physically but emotionally.
One elderly woman tugged at him and told him. “Mag-ingat ka, anak. Mahalaga ka sa amin. Ang buhay mo ay buhay namin.”
This, he said, meant a lot more than the survey numbers.
Then he got his slim cell phone from his pocket and started to read some text message from supporters. These were all field reports on surveys conducted by local radio-TV stations and community newspapers. Support for him and his running mate ranged from 40% to 70%, but most of the cities reported more than 60% and a lead of at least 20% over the closest rivals.
‘Tila sinasabi sa atin ng ating mga kababayan, na nais na nila tayong mamuno sa tunay na pagbabago” (“It seems like our countrymen are asking me to lead a process of real change.”)
I told a fellow volunteer: “Our candidate has crossed the threshold of his own modesty. He himself is now saying he is confident of winning.”
(Next: Defining moments and the surge)
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