■ POPULARITY NOT A BIG FACTOR AMONG CEBU'S VOTERS, STUDY SUGGESTS
Aspiring presidents or vice presidents who want to win majority of voters in Cebu will need more than popularity or an affiliation with the dominant local party. At least that’s one implication of a study by Nelia Ereno and Jessa Jane Langoyan of the University of the Philippines Cebu. The study, which had a sample size of 606 residents from three cities and 225 households from Cebu’s towns, also showed that voters prioritized different qualities in the candidates, based on their age. Good communication skills mattered among voters 45 years old or older, while those 1544 preferred TV or radio personalities, for example. In the 2016 elections, the debates and Facebook comments also helped voters decide who among the candidates to vote for.
A tip for presidential and vice presidential candidates courting Cebu voters: Popularity or belonging to the same party as the local incumbent leader won’t assure your victory in the elections in Cebu.
Qualifications and positions on issues matter more to Cebuano voters, and comments about you on Facebook count, according to a psychographics study made by Nelia Ereno and Jessa Jane Langoyan on the voting behavior of the Cebuano electorate.
Ereno, associate professor at the University of the Philippines Cebu, presented the results of the study last April 26, 2017 at UP Cebu.
The study that had a sample size of 606 residents, covering 381 households in Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu cities and 225 households in municipalities, showed that “popularity had nothing to do with their choice of candidates.
Proof of this is that film actor Fernando Poe Jr. lost in Cebu when he ran for president in 2004 against Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, whom Cebuanos deemed to have “superior characteristics in terms of educational attainment and experience in politics.”
Arroyo won by a million votes over Poe in Cebu.
Cebuanos also showed “no specific pattern of political party loyalty.”
Instead of favoring their local incumbent leader’s political party, Cebuano voters focus more on the platforms and performance of the person running for office.
“In the 2010 presidential race, despite it being a province of One Cebu, which openly urged Cebuanos to support Gibo Teodoro’s Lakas Kampi-CMD party, the Liberal Party bet Benigno Aquino III won in Cebu. In the 2016 election, most of the UNA and LP leaders and supporters turned their backs on their party’s presidential bet to favor Rodrigo Duterte of the PDP-Laban party,” the study authors said.
Older voters in Cebu preferred presidential candidates with high educational attainment and experience in public service, while younger voters and voters who were vocational graduates preferred candidates who came from the military, the study showed.
Specifically, Cebuano voters above 45 years old preferred presidential candidates with good communication skills who had graduated from college, especially prestigious universities like UP, Ateneo or De La Salle; who had served as a legislator or in any other position in politics; had good platforms, personality and character; took responsibility for his/her mistakes, had no issue of corruption; was a candidate of a party they were supporting, or was a relative.
Voters aged 15-44 preferred presidential and vice presidential candidates who were a TV/radio personality; from the military; a spouse, sibling or child of a politician; somebody to be feared, or allowed divorce.
Cebuano voters who were high school and college gradu- ates wanted presidentiables and vice presidentiables who had introduced themselves through TV advertisements, studied in prestigious universities, belonged to a party they were supporting, were relatives, or were endorsed by their religious group leader.
Cebuano voters who preferred candidates from the military and who allowed divorce were those who were vocational graduates, those who had no salary, and those with a monthly salary bracket of P20,001 to P30,000.
Cebuano voters with salary brackets of P5,001 to P10,000 preferred candidates endorsed or dictated by the voters’ religious group leader.
Those in the P10,001 to P20,000 salary bracket preferred candidates who had graduated from college, served previously in politics, and did not blame others for their mistakes.
Overall, the top five traits Cebuano voters look for in presidential bets are 1) a heart for the poor and the needy (98.2 percent); 2) ability to provide occupation (97 percent); 3) a good personality/character (96.4 percent); 4) good platforms (95 percent) and 5) absence of issue of corruption (94.2 percent).
Focus group discussions that validated the results of the faceto-face interviews revealed other factors important to Cebu voters: capability to protect the country from national and international threats; having the same cultural linguistic affiliation with the voter; strong personality, credibility, reliability; presence of good plans for the next six years; and candidates’ lifestyle.
Cebu voters said that in the 2016 elections, the presidential and vice presidential debates, as well as the news, opinions and comments expressed on Facebook, helped them decide which candidates to vote for.