Me against the MUSIC.

I’ve always emphasized the thought on how music molds the emotional, mental and social awareness of people. Personally, a good music is essential to boost my day ahead. It gravely affects the flow of every situation and occasion.

This importance has been foreseen by other institutions that has used music as the main source of attraction for social awareness and change. True enough, a lot of the youth has accepted this trend. Several concerts and events are mainly flocked by teens and young adults. Music changed the way we see the world.

That being said, music is also a great factor even in politics. For those running for office, a good and catchy campaign jingle is more important than a good track record (no pun intended here). Just this day, the national election campaign has started but a lot of major politicians and candidates have already banked in on the airwaves their campaign jingles that bugged us these past few months. And with that, the good music has just been turned into an annoying amount of NOISE.

The choice for their political campaign jingle ranges from the loud, to the annoying. It always has to be laced with controversy as well (just for kicks in their “publicity”). Just before the Christmas season last year, Benigno Aquino III wowed us with his “star-studded” music video-slash-political-campaign-in-hindsight. The song was sang by Regine Velasquez and was written and composed by Ogie Alcasid. It was moving and has a great melody to back it up (just my opinion), but what bugs me is the tremendous amount of showbiz personality gearing up with torches and lights and candles. Thanks Krissy! *insert high-pitched laughs here*


Then, Gilbert Teodoro followed by using a song unsolicited from its singer/songwriter Rico Blanco. After a heated debate with a lot of people involved in this scenario, Gibo finally settled with a new song and new musicians, Rivermaya. Coincidentally, Rico was the former lead singer of the said band. (personalan?) (watch Rivermaya rock for Gibo..)

Bro. Eddie Villanueva was into the hip bandwagon by choosing rapper Gloc9 to man his jingle (that doesn’t sound right..but you get what I mean). Richard Gordon, on the other hand used the Philippine National Red Cross and the Christmas hit “Silent Night” (pun intended) to boost his campaign. (bakit di niya kuning endorser si Kuya Germs, “walaaaaaang tulugaaaaan!”).

And then there’s Manny Villar. The man of the hour. He started the bandwagon by releasing an “ad” using a song popularized by 6cyclemind. Then, he followed it up with his “Akala mo” jingle. This got quite some attention and has become the center of jokes and fallacies. But Manny Villar did not stop there. He released his most powerful weapon. Altogether now, “Nakaligo ka na ba sa dagat ng basura? Nagpasko ka na ba sa gitna ng kalsada?..” and so on. This song hit the country by storm. This has also become the most annoying campaign jingle ever to hit the Philippine airwaves. But despite its negative feedbacks, Villar seems to be raking in on the ratings. (not annoyed by Villar's infectious video? here yah go..)


Villar’s campaign deemed victorious. This threatened the top candidate based on the surveys. Noynoy Aquino needed to pull a showstopper. And so he did. His new campaign jingle does not just show his groovy moves and “cool” factor, he even sang, or shall I say rapped a part of it. As Simon Cowell would put this up, “it was ridiculous”. Noynoy. *tulala* (the link to his rap..)

Now, some of these candidates are denouncing “traditional politics” or “trapo”. But one way or another, campaign jingles are still part of these so-called traditions. I think they still have to re-think everything that they are trying to tell the people.

If only the elections will be based through these campaign jingles, it might be easier to pick your bet. But the upcoming election is something that we should take seriously. This election will hold our future for the next six years, which will also transpire to the coming years. Let us all put to mind that we should vote for the right candidate for the right position. It’s not about the campaign jingles, not about where they come from, or their family background. It’s all about granting our hopes for our beloved country. And remember,"the candidate is not his AD." (Gang Badoy via Twitter)

I myself have not made a decision yet on who to vote. But one thing is for sure, I will make my vote count for a better Philippines. Let’s all do.