CANDIDATES AND their managers realize that likeability and approachability—coincidentally the same qualities movie producers and network executives look for in would-be stars—are what voters look for most. And on the campaign trail, these personal ties are called upon to draw the crowds and eventually the votes on election day. Nowhere is this more evident than in a national campaign where face to face campaigning is simply not possible. Instead, personal ties, or the illusion of it, are manufactured through the mass media—television in particular.

Since entertainment or the ability to grab the attention of viewers is the overarching principle of television programming, stars and celebrities running for office edge out the more serious candidates from precious airtime. Even news coverage, which claims to emphasize information over entertainment, is determined less by political ideology and more by what news producers consider as amusing and attractive to the audience. In the boardrooms of network executives, election coverage is planned out like a drama mini-series with emphasis on action and conflict and where politicians play the stars. Those that don't have the star-power to sustain the ratings are dropped from the script.

An example of this was the wildly popular presidential campaign of Miriam Defensor-Santiago in 1992. Her natural talent for attracting attention and amusing the public propelled her to superstar status overnight. As the cameras followed her every move and recorded her every phrase, so did the voters. Little wonder that without a serious party or national machinery, Santiago, a relatively unknown bureaucrat just a year before the election, finished second in the closest presidential race in the country's history. Candidates like the septuagenarian Senate President Jovito Salonga who were slow to adapt to the cruel medium of close-ups and sound bites found themselves with little airtime left to make any serious impression on the electorate.

It was called the 'Miriam phenomenon' then, but the more precise way of putting it was that it was proof of the increasing influence of electronic media on voters. Since then, candidates have taken the cue and tried to reinvent themselves for the medium. Those who lack the star-appeal and showbiz experience compensate by weaving controversy and shock-value around their campaigns. Candidates desperate for even a sliver of the spotlight adopt extremist politics with the hope of attracting media attention. Others resort to more demeaning tactics like dancing and serenading on stage. For the hopelessly devoid of talent, professional entertainers are flown in to take the candidate's place on stage.

The power of television is also seen in its ability to fabricate images and illusions that resonate with viewers. One of the most enduring and successful stereotypes is that of the avenging hero. Estrada manufactured an entire political career around this illusion and so have several action stars after him. But hero worship is no longer the monopoly of actors and actresses. Newscasters and broadcast journalists are fast edging them off center stage.

Using the real world as their stage and real life as their material, news anchors have ascended into the pantheon of cultural superstars. And because reality when reported in the evening news or when presented live and unedited is invariably more entertaining than fiction itself, news anchors and star reporters then become the master showmen of our time. Many of them have taken their roles a step further and challenged the traditional function of politicians and public servants. Today, news personalities are called upon by a public jaded with official incompetence to expose corruption, correct injustice, and in an increasing number of cases even to act as negotiators in hostage crises.

The overwhelming victory of ABS-CBN star anchor Loren Legarda in the 1998 senatorial elections as well as the pace-setting performance of the same station's popular news anchor Noli de Castro and public affairs host Francis 'Kiko' Pangilinan in the current senatorial race, exposes the modern day phenomenon of the news presentor as newsmaker (former ABS-CBN host Atty. Ricardo 'Dong' Puno and GMA Network's Solita 'Mareng Winnie' Monsod are also doing well in the surveys). Kabayang Noli's decision to run for the Senate was even the headline of his very own 'TV Patrol' news program.

Many news anchors and public affairs hosts of course spend more time in the make-up room than in the field—if they decide to step out of the studio at all. Many also do not write their own scripts. But because the news profession allows the anchor privileged access to important events and personalities, their presence in the epicenter of every national drama has etched their image in the national memory. This exposure translates to a high level of public awareness and trust, and naturally, votes.

What political candidates and strategists are therefore learning from the celebrity elite in the age of television is the central role of stagecraft. And as politics shifts to stagecraft, advertising executives and PR specialists are teaching their clients to choose the right wardrobe, develop one-liners, crack jokes, apply make-up and learn the latest dance steps. Politicians are thus spending more time behaving like actors before a performance than candidates in an election. In many ways, sensation, the basis of all entertainment, has become the basis of Philippine politics as well.