PhilNews.

com, an online newspaper, described Philippines as a country deeply lacking in

leadership. For decades the government is dominantly occupied by personalities, performers, and
relatives of past and present politicians who are absolutely unfit for public service. Most of them
dont have training, neither experience, nor the intelligence required to properly discharge their
functions and duties as politicians.

If anyone doubts this, they only need look at how far down the Philippines has fallen since it
gained independence from the United States in 1946. Back then the country was a serious player
in all of Asia. Philippine business was world-class. Philippine schools were top-notch, and
graduated scores of Filipinos who could make it to the top rungs of Fortune 500 companies.
Wages during the Fifties and Sixties were higher than most other Southeast Asian countries, so
much so that a few roads and bridges built then used less expensive foreign labor. Manila was on
the cutting edge of everything, from modern business practices, to fashion trends, to art and
architecture.

All that was then; the golden decades of the Fifties and Sixties are now but a fading memory to
those old enough and lucky enough to still remember. The Philippines today is without doubt a
third-world country. Filipinos migrate to far-flung destinations settling for low-paying jobs
avoided by local residents of their host country. Back then, we were way ahead of most of our
Asian neighbors. But something has gone terribly wrong because the Philippines has stagnated
while the rest of Southeast Asia sped forward.

The current economic and political situation of the country is greatly blamed with those
inefficient and corrupt leaders. Even today most are unqualified; more than a few are outright
thieves. For decades, the Philippines have been run by incompetent astounding amateurs while
neighboring countries chose their best and brightest to lead them.

Take a look at the candidates running today. Most are traditional politicians with no new ideas to
promote and a lot of bad habits to perpetuate. And as long as the electorate continues to see
nothing wrong with electing them into office, the Philippines will continue to be mired in
poorness. The sick man of Asia, despite its present surprise of adrenaline will remain an also
ran who will never quite make it to the top.

These current scenarios have pushed the researcher to study the current voting preference of the people. It
is imperative since, the voting preferences of the voters will dictate the fate of the government and the
people. With elections a little over a week away, Filipinos need to take a long and hard look at
who they are choosing to lead them for the next three to six yearsfor the
popular family name is enough for them to win

ut also with regard to the role of the election campaign, it was found that the

influence of social groups to which the individual belongs is crucial for the results,

since it identified a mediation process starring members of those groups who were

committed to opinion leaders between communication conveyed by mass media and

voters. This process was called two-step-flow of communication:

Understanding the profile of more than 49 million voting population, its diversity and similarities
across regions is a jumpstart towards future studies on learning the voting behavior of the
Filipino people.

In a democratic country such as the Philippines, leaders who will lead the country for a fixed
number of years are decided by the Filipino voters through an election. Filipinos are encouraged
to register and to vote as an exercise of their constitutional rights and privileges. For several
decades since 1947, starting from election campaign up to the casting and tallying of votes,
Filipino voters are always involved with high interest. Thus, describing some characteristics of
Filipino voters such as their geographical distribution, family income and education would give
us a glimpse or a picture of the countrys voting population

This paper aims to present the Philippine voters characteristics based on the results of census and
surveys conducted by the National Statistics Office such as the 2000 Census of Population and
Housing, 2000 Family Income and Expenditure Survey and Labor Force Survey. Other sources
such as Data from previous Philippine election compiled by the Commission on Elections

Even before former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was accused of electoral sabotage
and the misuse of public funds in 2011; even before Joseph Erap Estradaan earlier
president was convicted of plunder by the Sandiganbayan in 2007; even before Ferdinand
Marcos, a president-turned-dictator, was booted out of the country along with his family and
cronies twenty-eight years ago; we Pinoys knew they were corrupt. We also knew our
Senators, congressmen, governors, mayors, Barangay chairmen, BIR and Customs officials,
and our next-door neighbors were never totally on the up-and-up. And how did we know
this? We knew it because we ourselves are as corrupt as all of them.

The sad truth is that we Filipinos are just as flawed and just as weak of character as the
politicians we elect into office. We are not very forthright, we lie and cheatand take the
easy way out whenever we can. We choose to make money the fast, and sleazy way,
rather than the slow and honest way. We even hold in the highest esteem people who are
wealthy and ostentatiousnever-mind if we know they're crooks.