Manila, Philippines – As the Philippines gears towards the upcoming national elections come May 2022, the country’s Commission on Elections (COMELEC) has announced that they have surpassed their voter registration target, adding 5.4 million new registered voters. Part of that milestone is attributed to the commission’s recent campaign, which featured the ‘ghosts’ of well-known Philippine national heroes.
The campaign, called ‘MagparehistroKa! (vernacular for ‘Register Now!’), is conceptualized alongside creative agency MullenLowe TREYNA. The campaign is encapsulated in an interactive website, featuring the ‘ghosts’ of the country’s national heroes such as Dr. Jose Rizal, Melchora Aquino, Andres Bonifacio and Apolinario Mabini.
These ‘ghosts’ narrated their sacrifices for the country and paved the way for democracy, and then playfully urged netizens into completing their registration or else ‘something happens’.
Another layer of personalization within the campaign is the utilization of Google Maps, which helps registrants locate the nearest COMELEC office of the election officers (OEOs) or satellite registration sites from their location.
Part of the interactive website, the ‘heroes’ also reminds new registrants what to bring to the registration as well as the proper health and social protocols they must follow on the day The site also directs visitors to COMELEC’s iRehistro site where they can accomplish required details and complete their registration.
Speaking about the campaign rollout, James Jimenez, spokesperson and director at COMELEC said, “It became our main goal to persuade these young Filipinos to register without patronizing or intimidating them. They are next in line to build the nation in the future, and giving them an opportunity to decide for the country will benefit everyone.”
As a final push when COMELEC extended voter registration until the end of October, special OPM playlists were also launched at Spotify and YouTube Music that registrants can listen to during long waiting periods at the registration sites. Listeners can choose from three OPM playlists ranging from rock anthems to girl power tunes and mellow ballads.
Local entertainment personas such as Alden Richards, Bianca Gonzalez-Intal, and Jasmine Curtis-Smith who saw the social posts from the Twitter accounts of Google Philippines and COMELEC, also helped in promoting the site.
“These results are truly overwhelming because [one] it went past our initial targets, and [two] now more young Filipinos will be involved and participate in the elections for the first time,” Jimenez concluded.
