Equalizer voters in Philippine elections

Next week will be the Philippines midterm election to elect 12 senators, congressmen, governors, mayors and other local government officials. This is/will be an important election as it will lead to the 2028 election that will elect the Philippine president for 2028 to 2034, which will be the time for the country to move up, from a lower middle-income economy to an upper income economy.

- Ruben Almendras

This will only happen if our government is run by capable, competent, and less-corrupt government officials. The current candidates for the Senate leave much to be desired with showbiz celebrities, no-accomplishment re-electionists, and number of unqualified members of political dynasties.

The demographic distribution of all registered Filipino voters show that 63% are Gen-Z, in the ages of 18 to 43. Given that 20% of families are below the poverty level, 50% rate themselves as poor, and a functional illiteracy rate of 20%, the age distribution matters less than the economic distribution and vulnerability to propaganda and fake news. The inability of many voters to discern/distinguish facts from fake news and propaganda, and their vulnerability to “ayuda”/material benefits are bigger factors than demographics and even geographics.