PHILIPPINES: Trend emerges in mid term elections
Updated
The final official results from the Philippines mid term elections are still weeks away, but a clear trend is emerging. Voters have shown a strong preference for the status quo, with the government's allies doing well at the provincial level and in the lower house of the national parliament.
More than 130 people have been killed in poll related violence since campaigning began months ago.
Presenter: Karon Snowdon
Speakers: Astro del Castillo, Managing Director of First Rate Holdings
SNOWDON: The Philippines midterm election held a week ago decided 17,000 local and provincial seats, 220 house of representative positions and half of the 24 Senate seats.
A massive undertaking for which official results are still about two weeks away.
Earl Parreno is a political analyst with the Institute for Political and Electoral Reform. He says at the local level and in the lower house of the national parliament about two thirds of seats have gone to pro-government candidates.
PARRENO: The majority in the lower house could be about 180 or more, so that's a ... majority, and most of the provinces as well as the city and municipal mayors are also pro-adminstration.
SNOWDON: Also the Senate vote appears to have also replicated the current political state of play in the Philippines, two thirds of those seats seem to have been won by ANTI-government candidates.
PARRENO: Just the same as the previous senate we are expecting an opposition majority in the senate.
SNOWDON: But in the lower house and in the provincial areas outside of Manila strongly pro-government result. Now we sort of have the impression here that President Arroyo does not enjoy that much popularity in the Philippines herself, and yet the election has gone strongly in her favour. How do you explain that?
PARRENO: It is also true that elections in the Philippines are largely put forward by traditional, political families, and it's the voters that vote for the traditional families in their locality. And most of these traditional families are associated with the Arroyo camp, especially the local government where they got financial support from the central government.
SNOWDON: With political dynasties dominating at the local and the lower house level, the losers were the TV and sporting celebrities who have at times been popular with voters.
It seems few who ran this time managed to gain the necessary support.
But the conduct of the election has helped support the Philippines stock market which is near a ten year high according to Astro del Castillo, Managing Director of First Rate Holdings Financial company.
DEL CASTILLO: It seems like the euphoria was triggered by the aftermath of the mid-term elections. Somehow the investors also casting in their vote, a vote of confidence.
SNOWDON: Is it just the election effect?
DEL CASTILLO: Well there's some risk that which somehow is eliminated; one is the mid-term election. We think that eventually our local officials will somehow now take seriously their position and so as to help our economy propel to greater heights. And also I think the bull run in the overseas market is also infecting our local market, our local bourse.
SNOWDON: And investors it seems were not concerned that the trend in the senate, although the results are not in yet, seems to be running against the government?
DEL CASTILLO: Though seems like even the lower house of congress it's already in favour of government there will be less jockeying for another impeachment against the President. And somehow hopefully both houses of congress will now focus on the pending economic bill that is needed really to jump-start our economy.
