Riding the cyber campaign wave highs and lows of promoting philippine candidates on the web

During the same period, political actors and election stakeholders began to embrace Internet technology in enlightening citizens on upcoming elections and educating voters on the backgro

Chapter One INTRODUCTION

I Political Campaigns and the Internet

The Philippines, considered the ‘showcase of democracy in Asia,’ (Crouch, 1985) is known for its vibrant and mostly turbulent political upheavals, habitually marked in recent decades by ‘people power’ protests, military adventurism and presidential impeachments The country is also synonymous with mobile politics (Teeling, 2004), after cell phone text messaging aided in the ouster of former

President Joseph Estrada in 2001

One other intense political exercise in the country are elections, which have figured prominently in Philippine political development since being introduced by American colonizers in the 1900s (Coronel, 2004; Teehankee, 2006) Commentators have since observed a kind of timelessness about the ‘highly-personalistic nature of politics, as well as the rituals and rhetoric of political discourse from the early 1960s until the period of martial rule in the 1970s up to the restoration of democracy in 1986’ (Timberman, 1991) In the late 1990s, politicians caught on to the new formula

of mixing information and entertainment that was instigated and perpetuated by Filipino television networks, which had copied the American entertainment industry (Abinales and Amoroso, 2005) During the same period, political actors and election stakeholders began to embrace Internet technology in enlightening citizens on

upcoming elections and educating voters on the background of some aspirants to public office via campaign websites (Pabico, 2004) The succeeding elections saw more candidates using campaign websites to reach out to voters (Cuevas, 2004), similar to what U.S politicians had been doing since the mid 1990s (Gibson, Nixon

and Ward, 2003) Interestingly, some of the candidates who won in the concluded mid-term elections last May 14, 2007, were those who launched individual campaign websites Their online practices can be said to reflect to some extent the so-called ‘Americanization’ of electoral campaigns (Schafferer, 2006) As for the highly-politicized Filipino electorate, the advent of cable and satellites, coupled with the ‘increasing influence of communications technologies in the formation of political opinion,’ was seen to change the manner in which they chose their leaders (Magno, 1994; Valdehuesa, 2005)

recently-1.1 Scope

Given this interesting socio-cultural and political climate, this thesis seeks to understand the impact of online campaigning on Philippines politics

by studying the web-campaigns of six senatorial candidates and the

electorate’s response to them It will analyse official campaign websites and not those produced by any organization other than the one controlled by the candidate or his campaign or communication staff This analysis will be supplemented with interviews with the candidates themselves or their

representatives It will then study the perceptions of the online audience towards Web campaigns through focus group discussions with Filipino voters The detailed research questions to be addressed by this thesis will be

enunciated in Chapter 2

1.2 Significance

Apart from the dearth of studies on this evolving subject matter that merits a new and broader investigation, there is a need to understand the unique adoption of Web campaigning by local candidates from the context of certain political realities prevailing in the country Philippine candidates, like

their counterparts in many parts of the globe have tapped the Internet to

promote their candidacies, but they have done so in ways different from their counterparts in the region and from the United States While fund-raising and network-building typically characterize U.S campaign sites, Filipino

candidates in particular deliberately excluded this feature that encouraged donations to their campaigns via the websites, citing real and legitimate

concerns

Whereas, in the 2004 elections, it was also observed that candidates did not fully harness the potential that the technology had to offer and that Filipino candidates lacked the requisite skills and financial resources

(Mirandilla, 2004), this study will be significant as it will show that the

situation has changed to some degree This study will attempt to show how local candidate sites demonstrate the increasing knowledge and skills on the part of candidates and their campaign staff in using the Web to reach out to voters

Online campaigning itself is still considered a new political tool in the Philippines whereby candidates here can make their presence felt not just to the online community in the country, but to overseas Filipinos who turn to the Internet for developments back home The Philippine context makes for a compelling inquiry for a variety of reasons While the level of Internet

adoption in the Philippines is quite low compared to some of its neighbors in the region, it is projected to grow A recent Nielsen study has also pointed to a slight drop from the dependence on television in favor of the Internet for information This is aided by the proliferation of Internet cafes in urban areas

in some parts of the country Furthermore, mobile phone penetration is high,

and the potential for media convergence between the mobile phone and the Internet makes this study more pertinent On the other hand, Filipinos are said

to be techy-savvy and recognized worldwide as top users of sms or texting and social networking sites on the Internet The preoccupation with the Internet could potentially benefit both candidates and voters, in that if done right, it could level the playing field for political actors and contribute to greater voter awareness about those aspiring to be future leaders and the elections in

general

This thesis was able to address these issues because it examined select candidate websites, complimented these with interviews with the

candidates themselves or their campaign staff, and last but not the least,

provided the perspective of the target audiences of these campaigns – of Filipinos based in the country and abroad

1.3 Goals

This thesis will therefore attempt to analyze the extent to which Filipino candidates are using their websites in promoting themselves to the Filipino online community based on political and web-based marketing

principles The second goal of this paper is to understand the expectations and concerns of the online audience towards this new campaign technique, particularly on the potential of the campaign website to serve as a new forum for deliberative exchange Lastly, this thesis will attempt to determine the extent to which the online efforts of Filipino candidates echo the marketing practices of American candidates, and whether there are distinct features unique to Philippine Web campaigns

1.4 Contribution

This thesis therefore hopes to make a modest contribution to the growing literature on Internet studies in the Philippines and in Asia by

providing a deeper understanding of how online politics is practiced by

specific political actors, in the context of the country’s vibrant, complex and democratic political environment, as well as from a political marketing

perspective This thesis hopes to advance what some scholars assert, that the practice of technology-driven information politics, which includes the

deployment of the Internet, occurs at varying degrees (Castells, 2004; Kluver

et al, 2007) In particular, this study presumes to expand the notion that the level of adoption of online campaigns depends on the technological diffusion and political culture prevailing in a country (Kluver et al, 2007) This study asserts that more than technological skills and knowledge, political culture weighs more heavily in the manner in which candidates here adopt online campaigning, as it provides specific findings from the Philippine context on its unique brand of politics that will help explain why politicians here use the Internet the way they do It hopes to impart a picture of the state of online affairs for a specific period to which scholars can return, in bridging studies of different time frames Candidates and campaign planners may also find this work useful in crafting their online approach with marketing principles in mind, and integrating it with their overall campaign strategy Meanwhile, the valuable information provided by focus group participants in the Philippines and in Singapore will address the gap in the current literature, by establishing what Filipino audiences make of high-tech campaigns

1.5 Structure of Thesis

The remaining section of this introductory chapter will provide background on the various Web practices of political parties and candidates from different parts of the globe It will also feature a separate section on the Philippines’ political environment and Internet diffusion in order to provide background and history for understanding the manner in which online

campaigns are adopted by local politicians Chapter Two will undertake a review of the related literature on Web campaigns Chapter Three will detail the multi-method approach employed in this study in evaluating campaign websites and in studying the perceptions of candidates as well as those of the online audience Chapter Four will deal with the findings and discussion from the website evaluation, while Chapter Five will present the findings and

analysis of the audience feedback on online campaigns Chapter Six, the final empirical chapter, will discuss the findings on the global and local character of Filipino Web campaigns The thesis will conclude by discussing key findings

of the study, its contribution to the body of knowledge on online

electioneering, and present its forecast on the future of online campaigns in the Philippines It will also look at the limitations of the study as well suggest new areas of research

1.6 Background of the Political Internet from West to East

This section will first review the history of Web campaigning, beginning in North America to Europe, and lastly in some parts of the Asia-Pacific region Gibson (2004) argued that political parties from different parts

of the world moved into cyberspace in the mid-1990s without having

clearly-defined ideas about why the Internet would prove useful, or how they should present themselves on it

1.6.1 Campaigns in North America –

While the Internet was used on a very limited, experimental basis by political organizations in the United States in the 1980s and early 1990s, not until the mid 1990s did it become a common tool for political communication and the management of political information (Graber, Bimber, Bennett, Davis and Norris, 2004) Gibson (2004) notes that although the Internet had been used in a limited capacity during the U.S presidential elections of 1992, it was the 1996 election cycle that saw the start of the concerted cyber-campaign with the high-profile websites of Robert Dole and Bill Clinton In 1998, meanwhile, successful Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Jessie Ventura utilized the Internet to mobilize young voters (Gibson 2004:97) Critics observed that candidate websites were static and dull, with offline content simply migrating to the online environment, often with little to

no editing (Gibson, 2004:96) Other analysts examining sites from this era described them as mostly “brochureware” or “virtual

billboards” (Foot and Schneider, 2006) Web campaigning was also largely seen as a gimmick or, at best, an ancillary to “real”

campaigning Powell and Cowart (2003) said that at first political campaigns used websites as a sort of proof that they, as candidates, were up to date with “it”, and were able to deal with the problems of the 21st century The same authors also claimed that with the

explosion of websites and the vast improvement in modern technology,

cyberspace became more directly useful to political campaigns with its virtual billboards that featured a wide range of information about candidates, travel schedules and fund-raising activities There are those, however, who say that most political candidates avoid using the Internet in ways likely to reach the wired generation and fail to tap its networking capacities (Benett and Xenos, 2004) It was evident that throughout the years, the political Internet emerged as a critical component of U.S campaign strategies (Howard, 2006) By the year

2000, the Internet had become virtually ubiquitous in presidential politics and was spreading rapidly among candidates and local parties (Gibson, 2004) According to Gibson, Internet campaigning appeared

to have turned a corner in terms of its movement into mainstream electioneering after 2002, with Howard Dean’s use of the Web for quality cyber-electioneering Here, Gibson notes, the Internet went beyond narrow fund-raising ambitions towards ‘real world’ voter mobilization efforts

Meanwhile, Canada’s political parties have also been early adopters of new information technologies because of the need to reach across vast distances and because they have been seen as a

nationalizing instrument (Small, Taras and Danchuk, 2008) In their examination of the 2004 and 2006 federal elections, Small, Taras and Danchuk note that the major difference between U.S and Canadian campaigns is the length of the election campaign period While campaigns for party presidential nominations and senatorial contests can last well over a year, Canada’s parliamentary system allows the

ruling party at the time of the election to decide the duration of the campaign which can last from a minimum of thirty-six to a maximum

of fifty-six days This explains why websites of parties in Canada can

go from full operation to reverting back to electronic brochures as soon

as the campaign period is over Laws covering election spending, also impacts on Web campaigning, such that fund-raising on party websites

is not as important as in U.S campaigns In summary, the authors note that since the 2000 elections, party websites have evolved from

electronic versions of lawn signs, into multimedia platforms that have been integrated into overall campaign strategies In terms of

interactivity and responsiveness, however, all of the political parties were wary in opening up their sites to full-blown debates, because their objective was to package and control the party’s message rather than engage in uncomfortable issues in the site

Portugal were seeing the importance of launching cyber campaigns Political parties in Western Europe have long held a presence in cyberspace, given the high rates of usage among the electorate (Carlson and Strandberg, 2005) In their study that sought to answer whether the long-term high levels of Internet penetration in Finland

attracted and mobilized a new and varied strata of voters, Carlson and Strandberg found an over-representation of younger voters aged 18-24, males, the better-educated and those living in urban or semi-urban places They also discovered that few voters looked for election-related information and visited party or candidate websites, implying that the Web is still not as important a source for political knowledge

as newspapers and television From the standpoint of parties, Carlson and Strandberg found that most sites resembled traditional brochures rather than new and interactive campaign outlets In Belgium and the United Kingdom, the demographics of website visitors were also found

to be similar to those in Finland (Hooghe and Vissers, 2006; Ward, Gibson and Lusoli, 2006) These findings suggest that site visitors are almost the same in Western Europe, where they merely check the site

to gather electoral information rather than interact with the party politicians or other voters, or play an active role in the campaign The cyber campaigns of other ‘wired’ nations in Western Europe such as Denmark, Sweden and Norway ‘have also not been trailblazers in campaigning online’ (Gibson, 2004)

In Eastern Europe, particularly in Russia, party sites were observed to have an overall high quality in spite of lower Internet penetration levels than Southern Europe (March, 2003) March explains that new parties in the former Communist countries are keen

to show their progressive credentials, thus explaining their proactive stance toward the new digital technologies Gibson (2004) notes that for Southern Europe, the public’s low rate of Internet use in countries

such as Portugal, Greece, Italy and Spain contributes to greater evenness in parties’ performance, since the incentives for the dominant parties to channel significant resources towards Web development are reduced On a last note, Castells (2004) contends that technology-driven, informational politics in Europe is a new historical trend shaping the entire world by successive waves, although under specific historical conditions that introduce substantial variations in political competition

1.6.3 Campaigns in the Asia Pacific Region

Parties in Australia and New Zealand were also jumping on the band wagon of online campaigning in 1998 and 1999, respectively, while among non-English speaking democracies, Japan showed keen interest in Web campaigning as early as 1995 (Gibson, 2004) Similar

to the quality of U.S sites, Gibson notes that efforts have also attracted their share of criticism for being too cautious and unimaginative with too much content taken from the offline environment She adds that while political actors around the world did appear to be cognizant of the importance of entering cyberspace, they were rather unclear about what to do upon arrival She, however, points out that it was not until South Korean president Roh Moo-Hyun turned to the Internet in early

2000 that cyber-campaigning was given a greater profile, transforming the face of electoral campaigning in his country and confirming the importance of a Web strategy for aspirants to political office across the world The 2002 Korean presidential election was described as

another ‘victory of the Internet’, in which creative website content and

continuous email communication allowed Roh and his team to build up his public profile and financial resources (Chung, 2003)

In Asia, many political parties went online between the mid to late 1990s in the absence of regulation covering online campaigns, and also because of the inability of some states to police online

communications (Gomez, 2005) According to Gomez, “the Internet now provides all political parties in the region an additional medium for communication, which has been adopted as part of the plethora of communication tools that parties now use.” Political parties’ use of the Internet in Asia also depends on the level of freedoms for political expression in a said country (Gomez, 2005:5) In Singapore for example, the extent to which the technology has been harnessed as a democratizing tool has been limited ((Soon and Kluver, 2007) When opposition parties here began to go online during election season, Gomez noted that the Internet came under regulation in 2004 via the Parliamentary (Election Advertising) Act

In Indonesia, meanwhile, the Internet began moving from campus cloisters to the communities in 1995 In the 1997 elections, the Internet provided the three legal parties with an opportunity to test the campaign value of having an Internet site (Hill, 2003) In quoting Andoko (1997), Hill noted that the Internet was seen by some

commentators as a means of campaign communication which was not regulated by the government, unlike radio, television and print media for which the minister of information had a campaign protocol

Similarly in Malaysia, opposition parties deployed the Internet much

more effectively in rallying supporters, and online news sites such as Malaysiakini circumvented government regulation and publicized information which was not readily available in the mainstream media (Chin, 2003; Loo, 2003)

The following section will provide a more detailed account of the political system in the Philippines, as well as the popular and media culture that shapes how elections and campaigns are carried out here 1.7 The Philippines Gets Connected

This section will review the history of the Internet and its use as a political tool in the country It will also examine the diffusion of the

technology and the profile of Internet users in the country Such information will provide the reader with a better grasp of the socio-political environment in which cyber-campaigning in the Philippines is taking place

1.7.1 Background and History

In the Philippines, Web campaigning might still be considered

a new way of reaching out to voters While in the United States, campaign websites have evolved from being just online brochures in the mid-1990s to sophisticated mechanisms that allow interaction with the electorate today, the first Internet connection was established in the Philippines only in 1994 (Khan, 2006) Despite the low Internet penetration in the country, the growth of Internet cafes has allowed tech-savvy Filipinos access to this technology Meantime, the Internet also connects with millions of Filipinos overseas, who are able to exercise their right to vote via the Overseas Absentee Voting law In the Philippines, political parties as well as private organizations started

utilizing the Internet as a means to enlighten voters on candidates who were running in the 1998 presidential elections (Pabico, 2004) The timeline below shows the history of the use of the Internet as a political tool in the country

At the height of the second People Power Revolution against then President Estrada in 2001, the Artists for Social Action and Response (or ASAR, which loosely translated means annoyed) wrote and produced a music album that contained several witty and

defamatory musical parodies about Estrada, his mistresses and cronies The group’s recording of anti-Estrada music in MP3 format reached the market of Internet enthusiasts at home and abroad (Maslog, 2004) These, along with anti-Estrada jokes disseminated on the Web and on mobile phones further eroded Estrada’s credibility (Maslog, 2004:76)

By 2001, there was a variety of sites which featured election-related

Figure 1 Historical timeline noting significant milestones in the use of the Internet

as a political tool in the Philippines

Jan-May 1998, Political parties, socio-civic groups & individuals tap the Internet for the ’98 polls

January 2001, Anti – Estrada music and jokes are disseminated on mobile phones & the Internet

2001, Election-related Sites fill the Web

Feb – May 2004, More political parties and candidates vying for national office launch websites

information (Pabico, 2004) In the 2004 elections, all the presidential aspirants launched their own official websites, while two of the four candidates for vice president and fourteen out of fourty-eight senatorial candidates created sites for that year’s elections (Mirandilla, 2004) Studies revealed that most political parties and candidates did not maximize the potential of the Internet as a tool for political communication and that they merely used their websites as electronic brochures (Mirandilla, 2004; Cuevas, 2004) During this time it was also observed that political party websites served as alternative news sites containing party leaders’ unedited press statements (Gomez, 2005) Examples of these sites include the website of the Liberal Party

of the Philippines and party-list groups ‘Akbayan’ and ‘Bayan Muna,’ which have representatives in the legislative branch of government

1.7.2 Internet Infrastructure and User Profile

A brief history of the birth of the Internet in the country and the technical infrastructure is provided by Rachel Khan (2006) in her book

‘Internet 101-the New Mass Medium for Filipinos’ The Internet was first accessed in the country in 1993 by multinational corporations such

as Intel, Motorola and Texas Instruments to communicate with their mother companies in the United States Limited e-mail access to the public was made available via the Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) and Philcom Internet stations before an academic Internet connection was established in 1994 via a 64Kbps connection to the United States The link was later expanded to more learning institutions and other ‘preferred members’ to help augment the cost of

sustaining the international leased line The exponential growth of the Internet arrived with the passage of Republic Act 7925, or the 1995 Public Telecommunication Act of the Philippines This allowed telecommunication firms to offer ‘value-added services’ without a congressional franchise and various Internet start-ups to establish their own Internet service providers Internet service continued to improve

in the following years with the interconnection of more ISPs and the country’s connection to Japan’s Advanced Pacific Network backbone This backbone which consists of many ultra-high bandwidth

connections link together many different points around the world and allows data to be carried over long distances

(http://www.techterms.com) In 2004, President Arroyo created the Commission on Information and Communication Technology (CICT)

to be the lead agency in Internet governance and in advancing IT development in the country In terms of industry regulation, the government believes that Internet services and content providers should practise self-regulation similar to the broadcast media Other government regulations concerning the Internet are for promoting electronic commerce in the country

According to the Internet and Telecoms in the Philippines report (2006), there are almost 100 Internet service providers in the country, the majority of them having connections through backbones located in the United States The country meanwhile has 264 value-added service providers (VASPS) which offer Internet-related services among others, according to the National Statistical and Coordination

Board Of the 264 VASPs offering Internet-related services such as access to the Internet (dial-up, leased line, broadband, cable, DSL, satellite), Web hosting, Web page development and design, Voice-Over Internet Protocol (VOIP), electronic commerce, and the like, 224 (84.8%) are located in Metro Manila or the National Capital Region (NCR), 26 (9.8%) are in the rest of Luzon, 9 (3.4%) are in the Visayas and 5 (1.9%) are in Mindanao (NSCB, 2006)

Compared to the year 2006 when there were only 7,820,000 Internet users or less than 10 percent of the total population, there were already 14 million Internet users as of April 2008, or 15.1% of the total population estimated at more than 92 million (Internet World Stats) ACNielsen’s “Activate” survey shows that the majority of Filipinos between 13 and 30 years old access the Internet daily for at least an hour after work or school (and usually before bedtime) The average young urban Filipino is also actively using the Web, having two to three email addresses from Yahoo!, Hotmail or email.com (Maslog, 2003) However, due its lower cost, mobile phones are more widely used in the country by the so-called Generation Text, for the youth’s propensity in using Short Message Service or texting in

communicating with one another Apart from earning the title as the texting-capital of the world, the Philippines cliche was also established

as the social networking capital of the world in a recent Universal McCann study According to the survey entitled ‘Power to the People – Wave 3’, 83% of Filipinos who were Internet users were reported in March 2008 to belong to a social network, with Friendster being the

top choice, followed closely by MySpace, Facebook, Hi5 and Multiply The survey noted that social networking is a means to connect people globally, especially for countries with high emigration like the Philippines and Mexico AC Nielsen Media Philippines attributes the rise in Internet consumption to the growth in number of Internet cafes in urban areas and the cheap cost of going online

According to the earlier survey, Filipinos are also considered the top photo uploaders and Web video viewers, and second to South Korea in the number of blog readers and video uploaders (Kittelson, 2008)

In citing AC Nielsen’s Netscan survey in the last quarter of

2002, Khan (2006) found that over half of those with Internet access belong to the upper and middle classes, which accounts for almost two out of three users The same survey shows that, interestingly, “foreign (mostly U.S.) traffic makes up 90 percent of the consumers’

consumption” and that “connectivity to other Asia-Pacific countries is

a small fraction compared to the U.S connection.”

Table 1 Statistical Data on the Philippines

% of Total Population Source

Internet Penetration 15.1% (as of 2007) ITU

Mobile Phone Penetration

45% (as of 2006) Dow Jones News

wires Text Messaging 250 million SMS/day National

Statistical and Coordination Board

Of the country’s Internet users, 3.1 million (about 70 percent) are said to access the Internet using prepaid cards at Internet cafes These cafes, which provide affordable Internet connection, are the products of government and private sector initiatives in bridging the digital divide in the country (Khan, 2006) Despite the country’s low personal computer (PC) penetration rate of less than 10% of the total population, the Internet café has provided access to online gaming and the Web to many Filipinos (Internet World Stats)

The report on Internet and Telecoms projected that while the penetration rates in the Philippines are among the lowest in Asia, the Internet is positioned for growth with its deregulated market, strong government support for IT development and an increasingly Internet-savvy population For one, the number of Internet users was expected

to hit 21 million in 2008 (IDC) In a joint study by Yahoo! And Nielsen on Internet Habits of Filipinos, Internet use is growing even outside Metro Manila, particularly in urban cities in Mindanao In the same study, it was revealed that social networking is the key online activity, and that one in three Filipinos Internet users have a blog, prompting Nielsen to declare that marketers and advertisers should re-examine their strategies in using the Internet to target consumers The study also noted a slight drop in television viewership, with more Filipinos shifting to the Internet to acquire information from 98% in

2007 to 92 % in 2008 Those reading newspapers also decreased, from

19 % to 15% between 2007 and 2008 based on the study

1.8 Political Environment

The Philippines is among the few Southeast Asian nations that has had

a rich historical tradition in electoral politics (Teehankee, 2006) It is a story

of the Filipinos’ struggle to be part of a community of nations which believes

in the fundamental equality of human beings, in the individual’s freedom to choose his leaders and to be chosen in turn, and his prerogative to be part of a process that chooses which system of governance is best for him (Carlos and Banlaoi, 1996) The EDSA or People Power Revolution of 1986 resulted in the ouster for Marcos, the collapse of his dominant political party and the installation of Aquino as president of the Philippines, whose revolutionary government laid the foundation for the 1987 Philippine Constitution

(Tancangco, 1988) This constitution also paved the way for the emergence of

a competitive multi-party system, as a result of the effective dismantling of the traditional political parties of the Marcos regime (Carlos and Banlaoi, 1996; Tancangco, 1988) Under the 1987 Constitution, the pre-martial law

presidential form of government with the bicameral Congress was

re-established and national elections were synchronized with local elections (Teehankee, 2006) The President and the Vice-President are separately elected by a direct vote of the people through a simple plurality nationwide, with both serving a term of six years The Philippine Congress consists of the Senate and House of Representatives, where half of the twenty-four senators are nationally elected at large every six years through simple plurality No senator is allowed to serve more than two consecutive terms

(www.comelec.gov.ph)

In the congressional elections that took place in 1987, the anti-Marcos sentiment played a role in shaping and defining the outcome of political

alliances, and President Aquino’s personal endorsement of candidates was deemed crucial While this election marked the period of democratic

transition and reconstruction as pmartial law political parties sought to establish their networks and new parties organized, most of these new

re-groupings were ad hoc and personality-based organizations (Teehankee, 2006) Moreover, these parties engaged in the same clientelistic and

parochial style of politics reminiscent of campaigns under the Marcos era (Teehankee, 2006: 89) In quoting Gamalinda, the campaign thus was reduced

to a ‘poster and jingle war’ among the many candidates who were driven to accomplish name-recall more than the advancement of issues (Carlos and Banlaoi, 1996) In the first ever free and open presidential elections in 1992, under the new constitution, no less than seven candidates vied for the top post

of the land, representing seven major political parties, such as the Nacionalista Party, the Liberal Party, Marcos’ Kilusang Bagong Lipunan or KBL and the Lakas-National Union of Christian Democrats (Carlos and Banlaoi, 1996: 148) The Lakas-NUCD emerged when then Defense Secretary Fidel V Ramos, after losing the nomination of his party, the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP) or Struggle of Filipino Democrats, organized the Lakas EDSA (Strength of EDSA) which later joined with the older National Union of Christian Democrats-United Muslim Democrats of the Philippines

(Teehankee, 2006) It was only during this election that more stable political parties contributed to the development of an emergent multi-party system (Teehankee, 2006: 89) In the next round of synchronized elections in 1998,

there were eleven presidential candidates, with only two aspirants having the backing of political parties with established political machinery – House

Speaker Jose de Venecia of the Lakas-NUCD-UMDP and Vice President Joseph Estrada of the Laban ng Makabayang Masang Pilipino or LAMMP (Struggle of the Nationalist Filipino Masses) (Teehankee, 2006: 92) The

2004 election for the presidency with its five presidential candidates was unusual because, since the first time in 1986, the incumbent president was running for office, due to the ascension into the presidency of then Vice

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo after Estrada’s ouster in 2001 (IPC, 2005) For the first time, a candidate had all the advantages, from political machinery

to having access to state resources (IPC, 2005:7) Her rival, Fernando Poe Jr., however, was backed by an opposition-led coalition and had the advantage of popularity, having been an action film celebrity like Estrada

1.8.1 Political Culture

Political culture can be used to describe models explaining behavior and public opinion (Howard, 2006) Kluver (2005) defined political culture as the symbolic environment of political practice that

is shaped by historical experiences and philosophical and religious traditions This can also encompass cultural elements, such as the assumptions, expectations and values regarding political activity (Foot

et al, 2003) Folk concepts, such as regarding leaders as parents, for one, are seen to have an obvious bearing on perceptions of political leadership (IPC, 2005) One study that explored the unique and colorful aspects of Filipino political culture revealed that the poor considered a leader “as provider and guide, and as one who thinks

about the future, and desires the good of the children” (IPC, 2005: 98) Their findings showed that the poor, who comprise the majority in the country, consider elections legitimate exercises for selecting leaders even though “the campaign period is seen as a time of extremes and excesses” (IPC, 2005:102) Furthermore, the study revealed that their vote is a thinking vote, one that is not swayed by candidate surveys (IPC, 2005: 96) In the manual “How to Win an Election,” Gonzales (2006) wrote that for half of the country’s population who live in the rural areas, where the totality of values, customs and traditions is called folk culture, government can be distant and inscrutable like the supreme deity of both the pre-colonial natives and the contemporary adherents of folk religion This alienation can be traced to the long periods of colonialism under Spain and the United States in which a central government was imposed by foreign invaders (Gonzales 2006:10) Even though the poor consider electoral participation “an affirmation of patriotism and of being a Filipino,” this does not necessarily indicate a strong sense of nationhood since there are other civic duties besides voting Gonzales further illuminated another major cause of this weak sense of nationhood, which he attributes to the historical connection between the Roman Catholic Church, the country’s dominant religious institution, and the colonial powers Conservative pastors predominate in an institution that asserts the apostolic authority of the bishops and the primacy of the Pope

Gonzales said it remains unclear to what extent the hierarchical Church

is a genuine democratizing force in society, since there were no

significant changes after it asserted that ‘people empowerment’ is necessary – implying greater equality in both political and economic matters, more democracy, and more participation Specifically, the Catholic Church has been known for its influence over its large membership during elections, while the Iglesia Ni Cristo, an independent Christian religious organization in the Philippines, has long been associated with bloc voting (Rebullida, 2006) This bloc, which has around 1.5 million members, according to pollster Felipe Miranda, is a ‘strategic swing vote, especially in multi-party electoral contests for the Senate’ (Mangahas and Olarte, 2002)

The cultural tendency of the masses to seek mediators, patrons, and parent-like authority figures is understood better by traditional politicians and members of political dynasties than by reform-minded citizens out to challenge them (Gonzales 2006:16) According to veteran poll strategist Perry Callanta, most voters nowadays give more weight to the ability of candidates to address their personal needs, than

to candidates’ platform of government From the researcher’s personal experience of covering electoral campaigns as a political reporter, candidates are also known to attend to a variety of social obligations, such as visiting funeral wakes, sponsoring weddings and baptisms and participating in fiestas and other local celebrations where they are expected to donate prizes “Wine, women, and song,” or even cash, were meanwhile anticipated by those who expected to be wooed for their votes during the Marcos era (Hofilena, 2006) This practice, however, is still quite commonplace especially in rural areas

Citing Cruz, Hofilena (2006) noted that in extreme cases, some candidates engage in mudslinging and going as far as eliminating opponents through violent means, with political rivalries resulting in casualties in both rural and urban parts of the country Meanwhile, the so-called 3 Gs of winning elections guns, goons and gold still persist in some parts of the country (Callahan, 2000)

1.8.2 Media Environment

Apart from political culture, the media too play an active role that shapes and gets influenced in turn by the campaign The mass media’s manner of coverage has contributed greatly to the image of the election campaign as a ‘cockfight, horserace or boxing match,” where the coverage focuses on the personality traits of the candidates, their sensational statements against each other, their perceived standings, and the trends in the race or match based on the opinions of pundits and formal and informal surveys (Coronel, 2004) The

commercialization of the media, which makes it imperative for newspapers and broadcast stations alike to make a profit or to rate well, is one reason for the inadequate media coverage, where insufficient attention is given to the platforms of the candidates and their positions on social issues (Coronel, 2004:58) This can be illuminated by the observation that the media tend to reflect the class interests of their owners, advertisers and readers (McCargo, 2003) For the rural poor, however, it is not the media nor the church who are considered influential, but the family and the political party

Furthermore, both urban and rural poor are aware that the media

provide inadequate information on the accomplishments and plans of candidates (IPC, 2005) The online media on the other hand was seen

to challenge traditional media in providing the public with more comprehensive data about candidates and the elections in general (Pinlac, 2007) News organizations were observed to have improved

in their election coverage since their foray in online reporting during the 2001 and 2004 elections, while socio-civic groups formed their own election-monitoring sites and related news portals contributed to voter education for the 2007 polls

Election propaganda, on the other hand, is allowed on television, cable television, radio, newspapers or any other medium, subject to the allowed expenses of candidates and parties according to Republic Act 9006 or the Fair Election Act Recently, the COMELEC granted the petition of a private firm seeking approval to display political advertisements via the Internet In a COMELEC resolution, dated April 17, 2007, the commission approved en banc the petition of Cyberads Inc to display the political ads of candidates in about 1,000 Internet cafes nationwide that would allow voters’ access to a link to the website of those running in the May 14 polls (Valderama, 2007)

In approving the petition, the COMELEC said that this new form of election propaganda, which they referred to as digital media

advertising, was in line with its modernization program to provide voters access to information and education materials Furthermore, any candidate can avail himself of these Internet ads, which will allow candidates equal exposure time (www.comelec.gov.ph)

Television still gets the lion share of political advertisements, with its 95-percent reach among Filipino households based on a study

by the Asia Research Organization Candidates with a well-oiled machinery will have to spend at least 62 times more than what the law allows, since the ceiling set by the Omnibus Election Code for

campaign spending are outdated (Hofilena, 2006) Despite the high costs of advertising on television, campaign managers argue that at least these assure wider access to voters, and costs less than going around the country in traditional campaign sorties

1.8.3 2007 Midterm Elections

In accordance with the Constitution, legislative and local elections were held in the Philippines on May 14, 2007 This election was seen to be another test of political survival for the Arroyo

government, which continued to be hounded by questions of legitimacy, corruption allegations and declining approval ratings in her second term of office (Hickens, 2007) The administration party’s new alliance called TEAM UNITY brought together re-electionist senators from the ruling coalition (Joker Arroyo of KAMPI or Partner of the Free Filipino) and Edgardo Angara of another party recently aligned with the administration - the LDP (Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino)

or Struggle of Filipino Democrats Also joining the slate were incumbent last-term congressmen, celebrities, ex-senators previously aligned with former President Joseph Estrada, the whistleblower that paved the way for Estrada’s impeachment, and a couple of local executives who were virtual unknowns in the national political scene

(see Table 2) On the other hand, among those who represented the coalition of the Genuine Opposition (GO) were incumbent last-term congressman Francis Escudero, re-electionist senator Manuel Villar who served as Senate President before and during the campaign season, and detained Navy officer Antonio Trillanes IV who was among the leaders charged with rebellion for the failed Oakwood mutiny against the Arroyo government in July of 2003 Although originally running under the banner of the opposition, Francis Pangilinan of the Liberal Party ran as an independent candidate midway through the campaign due to some disagreements within the coalition (Table 3)

Table 2 Senatorial Slate of the administration coalition (Team-Unity)

Official Website

Aquino-Oreta, Teresa NPC Former Senator and

Estrada Ally

Yes

Defensor, Michael T Liberal

Party

Former Cabinet member a Yes

Magsaysay, Vicente P

Estrada ally

Yes Zubiri, Juan Miguel Lakas-

CMD

Former Congressman No

Table 3 Senatorial Slate of the opposition coalition (Genuine Opposition)

Background

With Official Website

Aquino, Benigno Simeon Liberal Party Former Congressman Yes

Cayetano, Alan Peter S NP Former Congressman No

Escudero, Francis Joseph NPC Former Congressman Yes

personality

Yes

Senator and Cabinet Member Raul Roco

No

Trillanes IV, Antonio F Independent Detained Military

Officer

Yes Villar Jr., Manuel B NP Re-electionist and

former House Speaker

Yes

Source: COMELEC, gmanewstv.com and inq7.net

Anti-Arroyo candidates consistently led in surveys conducted by the local polling stations, with administration candidates trailing from midway up

to the last stretch of the campaign period (www.pulseasia.com.ph) From the official list of the twelve winning senatorial candidates, seven were from the opposition who occupied the top 6 slots, while three candidates were elected from the administration party, with two independent bets rounding up the list (www.inquirer.net)

Table 4 COMELEC tally as of June 14, 2007

From this list of winners, it was observed that majority of the winning candidates waged Internet campaigns via their official campaign websites While this study is not concerned with proving whether online campaigns can help win an election, this study will investigate candidates’ motivations for engaging in such efforts This can partially be explained by one local study which examined the online political sphere in the 2004 presidential elections, which suggested that the lack of laws regulating online campaigns was one of the reasons for candidates’ utilization of the technology (Cuevas, 2004) 1.9 Chapter Summary

In reviewing the evolution and quality of online campaigns from western societies to some Asia Pacific nations including the Philippines, several themes can be culled First, that the quality of online campaigns are dependent on several factors that include the kind of political system prevailing in a country, the duration of the campaign period, existing regulation or lack thereof covering online campaigns, as well as the stage or level of development of the Internet at a particular point in time Second, political parties and candidates across the globe, more often than not, are wary about opening up their sites for communication with site visitors, the most common reason being, that politicians are afraid to lose control over the message being put out in the website especially from site visitors In examining the quality of online campaigns in many parts of the world, it can meanwhile be argued, that the level of Internet penetration prevailing in a country has no direct bearing on the creativity and attractiveness of websites, as proven by the case of Russia in Eastern Europe, and the Philippines Despite having low Internet penetration rates, candidate websites here were found to be exceptionally good in terms of offering an interactive information source Lastly, it was apparent that the Internet provides an additional

medium for political actors and parties, with the technology seen as most crucial for members of the political opposition

Given this global perspective which includes a background on the Philippine political system and campaign environment, the profile of Internet and mobile phone penetration and their users, the following chapter will undertake a review of the related literature on Web campaigns, covering the various issues and concepts that have occupied scholars since the emergence of information and communications technologies

Chapter Two LITERATURE REVIEW

2 Marketing and Internet Use in Political Campaigns

Since the 1940s, scholarship in the field of political communication have examined the relationship between politics and “new” media, such that researchers sought to determine the effects of media on the political knowledge, attitudes and behavior of users through various methods (Foot and Schneider 2006) Since the 1990s, one question that incites great debate among scholars is whether the Internet revolutionizes politics and the manner in which it is used by political actors to reach out to the electorate When the first research reports were published, the debates stemmed from the youth of the technology, the dominance of U.S studies in the literature, theoretical diversity and the lack of integration across disciplines and subfields, as well as across methodologies (Graber et al, 2004) On the other hand, theorists were also in disagreement about expanding marketing techniques into

domains other than business D.J Luck (1969) branded as evil the new marketing concept that also encompassed the marketing of ideas, people and places (Kotler, 1972; Mauser, 1983) With the growth of the political marketing industry in the last thirty years, it was inevitable that scholars would pay attention to the marketing character of election campaigning (Kelly, 1956; Glick, 1967; Nimmo, 1970; Lilleker and Lees-Marshment, 2005), and lately, to the use of the Internet as a marketing vehicle (Bowers-Brown, 2003; Drummond, 2006; Newman, 2006) This chapter review the literature, presenting two sides of the argument which traditionally

occupies studies on Web campaigns, between the camps of the so-called

cyber-optimists and the cyber-skeptics The chapter will also highlight how the Internet is

seen to facilitate political movements across the globe Following this will be a discussion of the nature of political marketing and how this practice spread

throughout societies and later in cyberspace, with the rise of information and

communications technologies This chapter will also tackle some principles of based marketing that could apply to campaign websites in order to more effectively promote candidates These two sections will serve as the overarching conceptual framework that will guide the analyses of this study’s findings The chapter will also discuss how the Internet and campaign websites in particular, can foster an active public sphere where citizens can engage each other in critical debate Lastly, this chapter will identify four research questions that this thesis will address

Web-2.1 Potential for Political Empowerment

Scholars have observed the Internet to be an ‘electronic agora’ or an

‘electronic republic’ where existing power structures could be challenged, and citizens are in charge of the communications network (Rheingold, 1993; Grossman, 1995) The belief of Internet enthusiasts that the technology can reconnect people and make them better-informed and more engaged citizens is reflected in the mobilization theory, which argues that the Internet can attract new types of citizens, particularly those who are less politically-engaged offline, because of the technology’s accessibility and relatively low cost (Norris, 1999) As for political parties and actors, the Internet is seen to offer

a better foothold for the lesser-known players to extend their reach to a new audience and galvanize support through means other than mass media

(Gibson, 2004) Margolis and Resnick (2000) belong to the other side of the argument, suggesting that the Internet tends to reflect and reinforce the

patterns of behavior of the real world, thus resulting in the normalization of

online politics According to them, this is politics as usual, since one would encounter familiar parties, candidates, interest groups and news media in cyberspace Some evidence points in this direction, where entities who

dominate politics in the real world, have become more adept at exploiting the Web for political purposes than non-mainstream candidates and groups

(Carlson and Strandberg, 2005; Cuevas, 2004; Margolis, Resnick and Levy, 2003) In the same way, citizens who were not politically-motivated in the offline realm, would also not find political websites appealing This was shown in the findings of a cross-national survey that indicated that those who take advantage of the opportunities for electronic civic engagement are

activists most likely to participate via conventional channels (Norris, 2001) Furthermore, that study showed how improbable it was for digital politics to reach the disengaged, the apathetic and disinterested, ‘if they chose to devote their time and energies on multiple alternative sites from the stock market to games and music.’ While it has yet to be proven whether or not the Internet has made Filipinos more engaged in political affairs, and whether it has

leveled the playing field for candidates and political parties, one thing is for sure For a democratic nation like the Philippines, the Internet has provided that other critical space where candidates and voters alike can in simple terms, get to know each other better This is an important starting point in a media and personality-driven elections where much of the focus is on the superficial, while the substantial information about candidates’ performance and track record, their advocacies and platform of governance take a back seat according

to Malou Mangahas, executive director of the Philippine Center for

Investigative Journalism Campaign websites, in particular, could serve as

effective vehicles not only to galvanize the support of the online public in supporting not just their candidacies, but in educating voters about important national issues Through two-way interactive features of websites, voters could potentially engage their future leaders in a meaningful dialogue on vital concerns that otherwise get drowned out in the traditional media with its limited airtime and space for publication Campaign websites could thus empower the electorate, provided they present a wealth of information about candidates from various sources, and the opportunity for immediate feedback from site visitors as well as open a dialogue with the candidate or campaign 2.2 Global Medium for Political Movements

As a result of globalization and informationalization which works through wealth, technology and power, Internet-based networking is no longer

an instrument of organization and struggle but has evolved into a new form of social interaction, mobilization and decision making (Castells, 2004)

According to Castells, this results in a new political culture where networking takes place without any central authority, but between the local and the global

so that ‘the movement can think locally, rooted in its identity and interests, and act globally where the sources of power are.’ In analyzing the

environmental movement, which he argues is the most comprehensive and influential movement of our time, environmentalists used the Internet to coordinate action and information and to build networks on a global scale (Castells, 2004:187) Another testament to the ‘techno-utopians’ claim that the Internet favors the economically and politically marginalized, is the

Zapatista rebellion in Southern Mexico, which owed its success to the

technology in re-energizing the opposition and pushing for political reform

(Castells, 2004: 82) The armed insurgents used a network of discussion groups, lists, newsgroups and Web pages to communicate with their

sympathizers in the country and abroad (Wallis, 2003) Meantime, communication also served to intensify the feminist movement with more efficient ways of quicky and globally disseminating information, that impacted

cyber-on women’s lives in the political and perscyber-onal ccyber-ontext (Aragcyber-on and Sampaoi, 1998) The Web has also lent itself to right-wing extremists, whose far-right materials found an accessible, unregulated and global medium (Copsey, 2003)

In recent years, the literature has also branded the Web as an ‘alternative Internet’ that is used by a range of groups and organizations who work against the dominant and expected practices in the media to include Indymedia

journalists who are political in less progressive ways (Atton, 2004)

The role of the Internet is also underscored in challenging authoritarian regimes, or where governments try to impose controls over the technology, who yet find difficulty in silencing critical voices (Norris, 2000) In countries like Malaysia, Vietnam and China, the Internet is the latest avenue to promote openness, and that which authorities recognize could not be regulated

according to the Southeast Asian Press Alliance Particularly in Singapore, where the government attempts to clamp down on the Internet, political groups are still able to practice a subtle form of cyberactivism due to certain features

of the technology (Soon and Kluver, 2007) Meanwhile in Malaysia,

following the 1998 political turmoil in politics, the opposition utilized the Internet to circumvent government-controlled media through e-mail, news groups and sites such as Malaysiakini.com (Chin, 2003) The technology was widely regarded to have changed the face of local politics in the recently-

concluded 2008 election, as it boosted the popularity of opposition bloggers who vied for and eventually won seats in parliament (Tarrant, 2008)

Websites have also been examined in terms of creating cultural resistance by marginal political parties, such as the case of the Taiwan Independence Party (Chung, 2004), and resistance identities as in the cases of the Warnet

Association and Reformasi of Indonesia (Lim, 2003)

In the Philippine context, campaign websites of those who brand themselves as reform candidates, and who usually represent the political opposition are finding new battleground for promoting themselves as the alternative choice, to the electorate based in the country and overseas Apart from the mainstream media that gives them exposure, the Internet, through online media, bloggers and their individual campaign websites allow such candidates wider room to raise more awareness about their qualifications, including the advocacies they are promoting Given that the Philippines is freer than its neighbors in the region, campaign websites are made more relevant as they are seen to further enhance the democratic process in the selection of the country’s leaders

2.3 Marketing Candidates

Whereas marketing is referred to by the American Marketing Association as ‘the performance of business activities that direct the flow of goods and services from producer to consumer’, others are of the belief that the term should also encompass other functions outside of business (Kotler, 1972; Mauser, 1983) This includes the realm of politics, where political marketing is observed as a global practice where voters choose parties as consumers choose products (Lilleker and Lees-Marshment, 2005) However,

unlike products whose package contents can be found on labels, citizens are able to distinguish the different brands of political parties from the platform of candidates and the personalities of politicians (Newman, 2006)

The following sub-sections will discuss the concepts behind the growth

of political marketing, its impact across the world, and particularly, on online campaigns

2.3.1 The Science of Electoral Campaigns

Conventional campaigning evolved from intuitive practice to the more scientific political marketing due to the ‘substantial growth of improved marketing research, sales analyses and marketing organizations, and their resulting attraction to the political domain’ (Kotler, 1982) Citing Scammel, Schaferrer (2006) noted that the U.S consultancy industry was borne out of the growth of political marketing over the past three decades, with clients reaching as far as Europe and Asia Accompanying the growth of this industry was the increasing global trend of copying the American-style ‘video politics’ that made use of television and image-making that catered to the media

(Blumler and Gurevitch, 1995) At the same time, the advent of a 24-hour news cycle has also been observed to push politicians to rely on political marketing machinery to manage their brand identities (Newman, 2006) Another significant development in political campaigns was the

Americanisation or internationalisation of consumerism, where the global public is thinking and behaving more and more like a consumer in all areas of life (Barber, 1996; Berger, 1997) Thus emerged the political consumer who

is both critical and challenging towards those who hold positions of influence

in society, and who expects them to listen to public opinion (Lilleker and

Lees-Marshment, 2005) According to Lilleker and Lees-Marshment

(2005:06) the distinction should be made between political marketing and advertising or selling, the former having to do with responding to the demands

of the market In determining what comprises political marketing, Castells quotes Abramson in enumerating that constant opinion-polling, feedback systems between polling and politicking, media spinning, computerized direct mailing, including ‘phone banks, and real time adjustments of candidates and issues to the format that could win’ are parts of this practice that further

transformed American politics in the last decades of the twentieth century

It has become apparent to social scientists that more and more electoral campaigns in liberal democracies mimick those of the U.S (Bowler and Farrel, 1992; Farell, 1996; Butler and Ranney, 1992) The United States became the role model in modernizing the publicity process, given the liberal utilization of mass media for campaign purposes in the country and the kind of electoral as well as candidate-centered system that exists there (Schafferer, 2006) This was true even for British parties which had previously seen few incentives to use the Web, since well-entrenched party machines and the relatively localized nature of election campaigning meant that traditional communication tools worked just as well if not better (Ward, Gibson and Lusoli, 2006) While at first, the Conservative party website was among those that did not maximize the opportunities that the Web technology offered in the

1997 elections, their party staff soon turned to various Republican

organizations in the U.S in order to learn from their approaches and

experiences in mapping out the party’s online marketing strategy for the 2001

UK General Election (Bowers-Brown, 2003)

In Asia, the use of the Internet to promote candidates varies, depending

on the technological diffusion and political culture, including regulation and assumptions regarding politics (Kluver et al, 2007) Nonetheless, it can be observed that parties and candidates reflect to some extent the U.S.-style of Web campaigning in their online efforts This bandwagon effect of

technology-driven information politics is advanced by Castells (2004) He argues that the electronic media, including the Internet, have become the privileged space of politics where everyone ends up playing the same game although at varying degrees In this ‘crisis of democracy’, Castells further claims that while ‘not all politics can be reduced to images, sounds, or

symbolic manipulation,’ he argues that ‘without it, there is no chance of winning or exercising power’ Thus, political actors operate around the media, for example by leaking information to advance a given personal or political agenda The Internet is also becoming a useful tool for influencing candidate images and perceptions about them by journalists, who serve as opinion leaders who interpret and disseminate the information coming from political operatives to the rest of the citizenry (Newman, 2006)

In addition, the Internet has become a vehicle for campaign propaganda, a forum for controlled debate and a device for mobilizing

supporters (Norris, 2000) With politics now in electronic space, Castells (2004) writes that politicians are shaped within the overarching principles governing news media, which include the race for audience ratings, in

competition with entertainment, and the necessary detachment from politics in order to foster credibility Digital politics is also now witness to candidate images that have been personalized, built up, and sometimes destroyed by