OPINION | Machinery matters

May 11, 2025 , 10:01 AM

By Manny Mogato

(May 11, 2025) – More than 68 million eligible Filipino voters will vote on Monday, choosing 12 out of 66 candidates to fill the Senate’s vacant seats.

More than 17,000 local positions will also be at stake, in a political exercise seen as a referendum on Pres. Bongbong Marcos Jr.’s performance in office in the past three years.

Most political observers believed the administration’s “Alyansa” coalition in the Senate race would likely dominate the elections.

Many local candidates closely associated with the administration are also runaway winners in their positions. About 70 to 80 percent of them were running unopposed, like Joy Belmonte of Quezon City and Menchie Abalos of Mandaluyong.

Based on four independent pre-election surveys, eight to nine candidates belonging to President Marcos’ team would make it to the winning circle.

Candidates who were ranked from first to eighth place were deemed safe and were sure of getting elected.

Candidates occupying the ninth to the 12th place were still in danger of falling out of the winners’ circle.

Those in the 13th to the 18th place still have a fighting chance due to the survey’s margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent.

Technically, those in the tail end of the surveys were statistically tied and had a chance to win.

For instance, in the last midterm elections in 2019, Francis Tolentino, who was always at the tail end of winning candidates in opinion polls, was unsure to win a seat. However, Tolentino surprised everyone when he landed number 9 in the winning list.

Could another miracle happen again this time? He was nowhere within the winners’ circle. He was in 20th to 23rd place in the company of three candidates supported by former president Rodrigo Duterte – actor Philip Salvador, lawyer and singer Jimmy Bondoc, and Congressman Rodante Marcoleta.

Another pro-administration candidate who has been outside the winning circle, former Interior secretary Benhur Abalos, might not make it. He has been ranked from 16th to 19th in almost all surveys, although he was ahead of Senator Tolentino
Tolentino and Abalos are not losing hope. They still have an ace up their sleeves.

The President endorsed them and nine other candidates as part of the broadening “Alyansa” ticket.

Being part of the Marcos administration’s coalition might help both Abalos and Tolentino win on Monday’s balloting, in the real survey.

Political observers believed President Marcos’ endorsement could bring an extra 10 to 15 percent votes, a significant push.

Besides personal endorsement, the pro-administration candidates would also benefit from the resources and political machinery controlled by the President.

President Marcos could mobilize support from his allies in the regions, provinces and down to city, municipal, and barangay levels to push his endorsed candidates win.

Such is the power of endorsement from a sitting President, who controls the police, teachers, and other bureaucrats involved in the political process.

On the 11th hour of the elections, political endorsements from local political kingpins, religious and civic groups could spell the difference.

Although most political observers believed the endorsement power of religious groups, like the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC), is a myth at the national level, it has an impact in the local levels.

Command votes from political kingpins are believable to deliver. Most of these kingpins were political dynasties well entrenched for decades.

For instance the Ortegas in La Union have been in power in various positions in all levels for more than a century.

The Marcoses, Singsons, Dys, Romans, Garcias, Dutertes, Romualdez, Tupazes, and Garins have been around for decades and they could help senatorial candidates win in their areas.

Normally, these endorsements from political warlords and religious groups come hours or days before the elections.

Thus, the outcome of the May 12 balloting may change from what the surveys had showed.

Of course, financial and material resources were also an important factors that would say voters to support candidates.

Reports flooded legacy and social media about retail vote-buying activities in the last days of the campaigning, from a few hundred pesos to crisps thousand peso bills in communities where there are huge number of voters.

It was also possible that wholesale vote buying were happening and could influence the outcome of elections. A minimum of 200,000 to 300,000 votes could be sold by election operators for candidates seeking national positions.

These votes are enough to make candidates in the 13th or 14th positions to leap frog to 11th to 12th positions. These situations had happened in the past.

Of course, only candidates with the backing of a well-oiled political machinery have the biggest chances of winning.

Only the administration coalition has the machinery at the national level to influence the election results. Others should have match the the machinery and resources of the administration to win on May 12.

Thus, the so-called traditional three Gs (guns, goons, and gold) and three Ms (machinery, money and muscle) still rule elections in the Philippines.

Political machinery still matter.

*The views expressed by the columnist do not necessarily reflect that of the media organization.

Privacy Statement

Our Privacy Commitment

TV5 Network Inc. values and respects your privacy. We are committed to safeguarding your personal data in compliance with Republic Act No. 10173 or the Data Privacy Act of 2012 and its implementing rules and regulations.

We have developed a Privacy Policy that adopts and observes appropriate standards for personal data protection. While our Privacy Policy sets out the general principles governing the collection, use, and disclosure of our users’ personal information, our Privacy Commitment seeks to inform you more about TV5’s privacy practices.

Why do we collect your personal information (as applicable)?

We may collect and maintain basic information about you as site user of TV5 sites for the following purposes:

To deliver news and updates on current events, sports, esports and entertainment;
To share livestreams of news and sports events;
To understand our viewers’ needs and preferences;
To meet legal and regulatory requirements; and
To perform other processes or disclosures that are required to comply with pertinent laws, rules, or regulations.

Where do we get your personal information?

There are several ways we collect your personal information.

Information that you personally provided.

Most of the personal information we have are those that you have provided us when you:
- Register to our programs or services;
- Inquired, filed a complaint or requested for our services;
- Took part in our research and surveys; and/or
- Became our Partner, Vendor, Contractor or Supplier.

Information we collect during your engagement with us

We also collect information as you use our products and services, like:
- Viewing our websites;
- Activities that are being tracked by our website cookies;
- Calling our hotline;
- Using our apps, websites, and self-service channels and portals; and/or
- Joining our promos, prize raffles, or rewards and loyalty programs.

Information we collect from other sources

Other means of collection of information may be through:
- Our market research initiatives;
- When you visit and use our websites and mobile application; and
- Subsidiaries, affiliates, and third-party business partners to whom you have given consent to share your information to us.

When do we disclose personal information?

There may be instances when we are required to share the information you provided us. In such cases, we ensure that your personal information will be disclosed on a confidential manner, through secure channels and in compliance with the Data Privacy Act and other privacy laws.

We will never share, rent, or sell your personal information to third parties outside of TV5 except in special cases where you have given consent, and in cases described in our privacy policy.

In some instances, we may be required to disclose your personal information to our agents, subsidiaries, affiliates, business partners and other third-party agencies and service providers as part of our regular business operations and for the provision of our programs and services. This means we might share your information with our service providers, contractors, and professional advisers who help us provide our services.

How we protect your personal information

The integrity, confidentiality, and security of your information is important to us. We have implemented technical, organizational, and physical security measures that are designed to protect your information from unauthorized or fraudulent access, alteration, disclosure, misuse, and other unlawful activities.

We also put in effect the following safeguards:

We keep and protect your information using a secured server behind a firewall, encryption and security controls;
We keep your information only for as long as it is necessary for us to (a) provide the products and services that you avail from us, (b) for our legitimate business purposes, (c) to comply with pertinent laws, and (d) for special cases that will require the exercise or defense of legal claims;
We limit the access to your information only to qualified and authorized personnel who are trained to handle your information with strict confidentiality;
We undergo regular audits and rigorous testing of our infrastructure’s security protocols to ensure your data is always protected;
We promptly notify you and the National Privacy Commission when sensitive personal information that may, under the circumstances, be used to enable identity fraud are reasonably believed to have been acquired by an unauthorized person; and
We let you update your information securely to keep our records accurate.

TV5 will not collect, use, or disclose your personal information for any purpose other than the purpose that you may have given your consent for.

What are your choices?

We make sure that we have your consent to continue to collect, use, and disclose your personal information for the purposes that we have identified. We want you to know that you may object or withdraw your consent and/or edit your consent preferences at any time.

If you wish to have access to the personal information in our custody or if you think that the personal information you provided is incomplete, or otherwise inaccurate, you may get in touch with our Data Protection Officer through the contact details provided below. In some instances, we may request for supporting documents or proof before we effect requested changes.

Data Protection Officer
TV5 Network Inc.
Reliance corner Sheridan Streets
Mandaluyong City
tv5dataprivacy@tv5.com.ph

What happens when there are changes in our Policy?

From time to time, we may update our privacy policy and practices to comply with changes in applicable laws and regulatory requirements, adapt to new technologies and protocols, and align with the best practices of the industry.

You will be provided notices if the changes are significant and, if we are required by law, we will obtain your updated consent.