This is a very interesting election-related opinion piece from the Inquirer's website that I would like to share to everyone:

"Separate Opinion" by Isagani A. Cruz (May 8, 2004)

'Miting de avance'

The campaign for the elections on Monday ends this Saturday in accordance with the Omnibus Election Code. Each party will be holding its "miting de avance" [final campaign rally], or what is remembered of it, unless this has already been held a few days before.

The miting de avance was a traditional feature of the campaign during the time of the two-party system, when the Nacionalista Party under President Manuel L. Quezon and the Popular Front Party under Senator Juan Sumulong vied for the voters' support.

The practice continued when Senate President Manuel A. Roxas defected from the Nacionalista Party under President Sergio Osmeña and formed the Liberal Party. The continuing contest between these two parties retained the miting de avance until President Ferdinand Marcos practically killed both of them with the organization of his Kilusang Bagong Lipunan [New Society Movement] party.

The miting de avance was a showy affair. Followers of the party participated in it with much enthusiasm fired by the heady expectation of a landslide in the coming polls. The men (and later even women) carried gas-lit torches that to them symbolized the power of their votes and the spirit of liberty. Placards and banners and streamers were displayed as if they were already spoils of victory. There was much cheering and sloganeering and good fellowship all around.

Music was also there, of course, with songs and bands. The songs were sung by the marchers together as a sign of harmony among them, and the bands came from the local musicians with their beat-up trumpets, drums and precious guitars. There were no featured entertainers to lend some kind of glamour to the march because it was supposed to be a political gathering. It was not a gaudy stage show.

The high point of the miting de avance was the arrival of the marchers at the place where it was to be held, usually the principal plaza. In Manila when it was the center city of the Philippines, this had to be Plaza Miranda in the district of Quiapo. This used to be the most important political forum in the whole country before it was converted into a shopping mall openly selling bottles of "pang pa regla" [menstruation inducers].

President Ramon Magsaysay, ever sensitive to public opinion, required every idea suggested to him to be first approved at Plaza Miranda. It was here that the people hooted Parity as proposed by President Roxas. This was the venue of an assassination attempt against him in 1947 and years later against his party-mates. In 1965, Marcos, not yet a dictator then, shouted his angry demand to the incumbent President Diosdado Macapagal to "Alis diyan!" ["Get out!"]

The local candidates in Manila also held their miting de avance at Plaza Miranda. Mayor Arsenio H. Lacson was a crowd-getter who always filled the place whenever he was expected to speak. I am proud to recall my own father, after whom that street in Manila's Sampaloc district is named, who was a spellbinder with his poetic Tagalog and often spoke in that contentious arena.

No less important, Plaza Miranda was also the disputed meeting place where the Supreme Court first laid down the clear and present danger rule as the libertarian test for the exercise of freedom of expression.

Where is the miting de avance now?

The miting de avance was a collective effort of the political party to boost its chances in the election by emphasizing its record and achievements, the validity of its platform and policies, and the merits of its candidates. It was aimed at underlining the solidarity of its members in endorsing all their candidates, especially its leaders, as chosen by their delegates at their convention.

These objectives are no longer sought by the present political parties, which is why the miting de avance of the past is no more. There are vestiges of that old celebration, for celebration it was, but the sentiment is no longer there that made it the exciting climax of the election campaign.

The keynote of conduct of the past political parties was unity. The foremost objective was victory for the party, not for particular candidates. Theoretically at least, each candidate campaigned not only for himself but also for the rest of his party colleagues. Thus, the "tarjetas" [leaflets] of the candidate carried his picture and name on one side and printed the name of his party and all its official candidates at the back.

Have you noticed how the candidates campaigned for this election? In TV and radio commercials, placards, posters, newspaper advertisements, and other propaganda materials, the candidate was campaigning only for himself, frequently not even for his party, and not at all for any of the other candidates. It was everyone for himself. The presidential candidates proclaimed themselves and were not chosen at the usual conventions. Many people could not even remember the names of the political parties, let alone their platforms, if any.

The miting de avance has vanished in the confusion, disunity and ineffectiveness of the multiple political parties today. This may be one reason why the coming elections may be an anomalous and wasteful exercise of the Filipinos' precious right of suffrage.

Well, what do you think? He does have a good point!