The Party as a Person: The Story of ‘Pag Mahal Mo, Akbayan Mo’

By Vincent R. Pozon

In the Philippines, the focus is on faces

We are a nation unable to wrench itself from the muck and mire of this medieval system because of the structure of government. As the late Teddy Benigno once wrote, “We all look to (public servants) to show the way, spit on both hands, rub rigorously like a front-line gladiator and come out fighting with cestus, broadsword, and all.”

We look to people, not parties.

The actors wear the countenance of the ideal amo: gentle, paternal, sleeves rolled up, hand laid reassuringly on a subject’s shoulder. They assume The Pose often and with practiced sincerity: a firm but friendly grip on the vassal’s shoulder, a kind inquiry into the family’s well-being. Done in public, this gesture leaves the recipient sheepishly smiling, honored, assured, and—perhaps—insured.

This image—the public akbay, half-spontaneous, half-staged—has become the dominant gesture of our politics. We do not elect ideas. We elect men who promise to care for us.

I’ve been asked often about the genesis of the Akbayan Partylist campaign—how the line was born, how the visuals were formed. I thought I’d do one better: I’m attaching the presentation deck that I used October of last year. The thinking is all there, slide after slide, unvarnished.

The Challenge of Marketing a Partylist

The Partylist innovation in the constitution, though conceptually sound, is a difficult sell. Its strength—its collective vision—is precisely what runs counter to the Filipino voter's need to connect with a singular, charismatic figure.

How, then, to make the voter see a partylist as a trusted patron? As a protector? To see a shared ideology as a godfather?

The answer lay in turning the party itself into a brand—one that represents the virtues voters seek in individuals. That meant humanizing the abstract, shaping the collective into something with presence and personality.

Imagine a political party born of shared ideology, whose candidates are more similar than disparate—not a coalition of convenience, but a cohesive entity. A band not of soloists, but of one sound. Like the Beatles—not simply John, Paul, George, and Ringo, but the idea of The Beatles.

The goal was to anthropomorphize the party—to give it a face, a name, and most importantly, arms to place on the shoulders of the people.

When the Name Is the Narrative

At the outset, the party’s name—Akbayan—seemed part of the problem. It sounded like so many others in the crowded partylist roster: abstract, indistinct, forgettable.

But the difficulty turned out to be a gift.

In fact, the story was in the name. Akbayan—to place one’s arm around another. To support. To show solidarity. To care.

It was, in essence, what we had been searching for all along: a party we could humanize. A party whose presence could be visualized, felt, and heard.

From there, the campaign took form. All lasting communication begins with a picture and a caption. The picture: a person in need, and someone—an Akbayan member—with an arm around their shoulder. The caption: a message rooted in the party’s very name.

And then we added music. The goal was to have an earworm children on the streets could sing. Kahlil Refuerzo of Wonder Collab Studios Inc. provided exactly what was necessary—composing the jingle, scoring the piece, and voicing the announcer himself, all as a personal contribution to the campaign.

The commercial was produced as a donation by 321 Films, who took on the project as an act of solidarity. Jello Espino served as photographer, also pro bono.

A Campaign Meant to Last

This is no seasonal campaign. Or at least, that is the hope.

We aspired to make the party name synonymous with compassion. "Akbayan"—to care, to act, to accompany. A gesture made visible. A name that says, in essence, "if you love something, you must help it."

That is the simple thesis voters will remember: “Pag mahal mo, Akbayan mo. Tulungan mo.”

Every Bold Campaign Requires a Bold Client

As I always remind people, aberrant ads require courageous clients. Partylists are meagerly funded, so in-your-face messaging is necessary to break through the clutter of the season. No agency – no work – is greater than what client allows. On that October day in the conference room of Estima, Rafaela David, president of Akbayan, and her team, allowed.

And because they did, a political party found its arms.

Vincent R. Pozon

After a year of college, Koyang entered advertising, and there he stayed for more than half a century, in various agencies, multinational and local. He is known for aberrant strategic successes (e.g., Clusivol’s ‘Bawal Magkasakit’, Promil’s ‘The Gifted Child’, RiteMED’s ‘May RiteMED ba nito?', VP Binay's 'Ganito Kami sa Makati', JV Ejercito's 'The Good One'). He is chairman of Estima, an ad agency dedicated to helping local industrialists, causes and candidates. He is co-founder and counselor for advertising, public relations, and crisis management of Caucus, Inc., a multi-discipline consultancy firm. He can be reached through vpozon@me.com.