I grew up in Montalban, and registered there as a voter in 2009. Since then, I have lived in Metro Manila, and have no inkling of what is happening in its local politics.
My barebones knowledge goes like this: the previous mayor, Ping Cuerpo, is a corrupt individual who enriched himself using the town's landfill business. This is why the current mayor Elyong Hernandez replaced him with a landslide vote in 2010.
So in this year's elections, Hernandez went against Roy Cuerpo, Ping's son, who was probably out to gain back what his father had lost.
But there was another candidate that caught my eye, one who had white hair, glasses, and a portly belly.
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| Santa Claus. |
His campaign style was eclectic. Months before the elections, a stencil of a Santa-like image began appearing everywhere. Then an accompanying mascot appeared to spread happiness everywhere.
Are you not entertained?
He's definitely not boring. While traditional politicians trumpet boring slogans about poverty reduction or job creation, Santa Claus just wants to spread cheer.
Even his second tagline makes everyone gleeful.
Montalban, Ibaglaban. IBAGLABAN.
Because when you're printing posters, you should make sure that there are no shameful typos.
Unless, of course, if you want the typo to be intentional, because you're Santa, and what matters to you is that people are laughing ho-ho-ho every time they see your poster.
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| Okay, the typo is definitely not intentional. |
Come election day, I was so convinced that Santa is what my town needs, so that I threw him one vote. I also voted his helper elves, because he needs them to keep his mustache straight.
Sadly, St. Nick still lost.
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| Source |
Who cares, though? What matters is that he's Santa, and he made me (as do 10,269 others) believe that he is real.
If only he brought his reindeer around, then he could have been a shoo-in.
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