THE din for the coming elections is getting louder. The candidates will come in all shapes, sizes and decibels.
In the aftermath, the losers will definitely outnumber the winners. Among the horrid body count will be many media specialists.
While the sore losers will invariably cry “nadaya ako”, the media specialists will say “nasuba ako”.
It is an old refrain: despicable candidates not paying people they hire and exploit to “burnish” their images.
That’s why a good number of public relations practitioners wouldn’t touch a political aspirant with a ten-foot pole. With a toilet plunger perhaps.
It really takes a different, cool animal to handle duplicitous animals.
Let us admit it, many people running for elections are not really telling the truth when they say “para sa bayan”.
“Kawawa naman ang mamamayan.” You bet. When they get elected.
When you listen to them talk, they sound like they are God’s only gift to the Filipino people.
So, the fearless breed of PR professionals treats political aspirants as just another transaction and another job. And yes, another income.
Still, a pre-requisite of the job is to profile the candidate.
The good ones I know ask a ream of probing questions to determine the “quality” of their prospective product.
I know of an astoundingly successful media expert who flatly rejected a schoolmate, now a former president, because her one-on-one ferreted out the subject’s true personality.
“She is a liar”, my friend said. And she was right.
After their due diligence and once in, the pros pour their whole skill and heart into the job.
But there are a number of media practitioners who give their whole soul.
More than for the fee, they work for certain candidates because they believe they are hitching on a crusade.
Hindi lang sila naniniwala, sila’y sumasampalataya.
There’s this other friend who left the comfort of her home in Antipolo and flew to a province in Region IV to run the communications campaign of an ex-RAM member running for office.
They were against a windmill, a formidable incumbent who has governed his province with charm and iron fist.
But why should I tell you the drama, when you already know the ending?
The challenger lost. They got bombed by drones!
But what is worst was my friend’s candidate not only faded from view, he disappeared from the scene.
The former military officer, so vocal about taking the moral high ground, just up and got lost.
My friend was distraught. Not only was she not being paid, she was being charged for invoices the team incurred as a result of the campaign - from the cheap hotel room cum war room she was holed in to the bills from suppliers.
The re-elected incumbent heard about my friend’s precarious predicament and magnanimously came to her rescue. He picked up the tab.
Back home, she finally had a nervous breakdown. Unable to eat and unwilling to face the daily grind, she just stayed home, and vent her frustration on playing, guess what, Angry Birds.
The prospect of handling a candidate could be tempting. There is nothing like a good fight, especially if you have a good manok.
My wife and I agree that the money in political campaigns could be good, but the aggravation to the nervous system and the dignity could be harsh. They are not worth it.
Just the same, we’ve taken in national and local wannabes. We haven’t exactly lost our shirts because we are lucky to have good counsel.
The true bonus in diving into such jobs is it affords me to take a good look at the souls of a lot of people, not only the candidates but media men as well.
The dynamics of the work bring out the best and worst of men.
There was this long-time congressman from the Visayas who wanted to be a senator.
I couldn’t for the life of me how he could be capable. The province that he has lorded for decades is (still) one of the poorest in the country.
There was another lawyer who did well in intellectual property and wanted to run for Congress. I didn’t know him from Adam, so I had to interview him.
He kept maneuvering the meetings to be done in plush places (with him paying of course), regaling me about his wealth. Unimpressed, I started wearing worn out t-shirts and dirty maong to deliver a message. Ikaw na lang.
A former basketball star and winning coach in Quezon City was really a clean-cut guy. But when he started paying what he owed me in trickles, that was quite humiliating. Huwag na lang, sa iyo na.
I would have wanted to enumerate more of the demented ones, but that would be wallowing in the muck.
Not all candidates are assholes. Among our better clients were a soft-spoken Muslim doctor, a former PNP head, and an outspoken heiress, albeit a confused one. They paid on time and as agreed upon.
With the coming elections, many media specialists will be panning the river for gold.
I wish you all the luck and May Heaven smile on you!