Village candidates’ gimmicks show shallow campaign
AN INDICATION of the depths to which campaigns for elective positions have sunk appears in the form of this tarpaulin in a Cebu City village bearing the superimposed image of a candidate on that of the fictional character blacksmith Flavio popularized in the movie “Ang Panday.” JUNJIE MENDOZA/CEBU DAILY NEWS
CEBU CITY—In an indication of how low candidates regard voter intelligence, tarpaulins bearing the faces of candidates in the Oct. 28 barangay (village) elections superimposed on images of fictional heroes started to appear here competing for attention like promotional materials for movies.
In Barangay Tinago, a candidate superimposed his face on the image of “Panday,” or blacksmith Flavio, a fictional character played by the late Fernando Poe Jr. and also by Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr. in a remake.
The candidate, Joel Garganera, is seeking to return as village chair of Tinago.
His opponent, incumbent village chief Doming Lopez, appears to believe in tit-for-tat. If Garganera wants to play Panday, Lopez would play Captain America, an American comic book character.
Garganera said his gimmick is to make his campaign “catchy.”
To make it appear like promotion material for a movie, Garganera’s face had been superimposed on the image of Panday wielding a sword and wearing a sleeveless shirt and dark pants.
While Panday’s story is pure fiction, Garganera said he is the real Panday in his village, being at the forefront of a peace and order campaign. Garganera said he put up the tarpaulins ahead of the filing of certificates of candidacy on Oct. 11.
He said, however, that the tarpaulins can’t be considered campaign materials as they don’t mention the words candidate and vote for.
“It’s just like a new movie that people should wait for,” he said.
Garganera’s opponent, Lopez, had put up tarpaulins featuring him as Captain America and members of his village council slate as Ironman, Blackwidow, Hawkeye, Thor, Hulk, Nick Fury and Loki, all fictional comic book characters.
Garganera and Lopez are only two of many village candidates who can’t seem to run a campaign based on issues and rely on popularity for votes.
In Barangay Sambag 1, Aileen Guardo and her slate fashion themselves as members of the Justice League of DC Comics. The Justice League includes fictional characters Superman and Batman.
In Guadalupe, the city’s biggest village, Eugenio Faelnar, who was linked to the misuse of the pork barrel of ex-Rep. Antonio Cuenco, portrays himself as a Jedi, a character in the Star Wars movie series.
Faelnar has been village chief since 1997.
