Senate race shows signs of ‘junking’ – Pulse Asia

MANILA, Philippines – Results of the senatorial race show signs that junking was employed as an election strategy, Pulse Asia research director Ana Tabunda said Tuesday, May 10. 

In an interview on Rappler, Tabunda said, “There must have been effective junking… especially among candidates who eventually made it to the Top 12, but who initially were not making it to Top 12. [Voters] were putting just a few names on sample ballots and not the whole ticket.”

(See the latest senatorial results below.)

Junking is a strategy where voters do not fill up the 12 slots in their ballots to increase the chances of the few candidates they are supporting. (READ: 3 reelectionist senators in danger of losing seats)

“I think junking has been done in the past, but it is not as effective as this one,” Tabunda added. 

In a race for 12 seats, the Senate elections has mostly been a game of name recall especially during presidential elections when the senatorial candidates are largely ignored because of greater interests in the presidential and vice presidential races. This has favored reelectionist and returning senators. 

The rise of “new names” based on the unofficial results shows that the results are bucking this trend.

“I always thought that [name recall] was a difficult advantage to overcome, but several candidates making it are new names,” Tabunda said.

Former TESDA chief Joel Villanueva has been topping the Senate race. Tabunda said Villanueva had good survey numbers, performing like an incumbent senator seeking reelection. 

Former Akbayan representative Risa Hontiveros, who lost two past elections, also appears to be on track to winning a seat. Tabunda said Hontiveros defied an old election trend that showed candidates who had lost national bids would find it difficult to recover. – Rappler.com