Looking Into 2022 Presidential Campaign Leaders, Their Backgrounds and

Reasons for Choosing the Presidential Candidates

Campaign managers during the 2022 national election have been working

around the clock since their presidential candidates filed their certificates of candidacy.

With the campaign managers in charge of their candidate’s messaging at proclamation

rallies and branding on social media, analyzing their assets that can relate the most with

the voting public, and making sure that they're playing their cards correctly in the hopes

of securing the country's highest elective office.Learning their respective backgrounds,

accomplishments and reasons for choosing their candidate will be beneficial for the

researchers in accomplishing the study.

Benhur Abalos the campaign manager of Bong Bong Marcos Jr. is affiliated with

PDP-Laban and has experience handling Metropolitan Manila Development Authority

(MMDA) as a chairman in the year 2021-2022 after stepping down to be a political

campaign manager of UNI-Team. He was once a mayor, representative and a member

of Mandaluyong City Council. The former MMDA chairman resigned one day before the

official campaign period to focus on former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s

campaign. (Galvez, 2022)

According to Punongbayan (2022), for Abalos, he will have to devote his time to

Marcos' presidential campaign as the campaign season approaches. In one of his

interviews, he stated that he supports Marcos because he believes in him and thinks he

is a smart person. The two are close friends, with the former serving as the latter's

National Capital Region campaign manager in the 2016 vice-presidential election. When

asked why he chose to back Marcos, Abalos stated that one of the reasons is that BBM
is a friend of his. He described him as a wonderful person. He also acknowledged that

individuals have choices when it comes to exercising their right to choose leaders. But,

at the end of the day, we must unite as a nation. He decided to join the BBM-Sara

UniTeam as he genuinely believes that the unifying leadership espoused by our

presidential candidate and his running mate is exactly what the country needs,

especially now that we are recovering from a pandemic. He also stated that he has

known Bongbong for a long time and believes that he has the experience and ability to

improve things in our country. Among presidential candidates, he believes his unifying

message is sincere and necessary for guiding the country toward progress and long-

term development.

In a news article by Marquez (2021) Bam Aquino, the campaign manager of Vice

President Leni Robredo and was a former senator, a chairman and commissioner for

National Youth Commision, said it was Robredo's wish for him to be her campaign

manager. She asked him to be her campaign manager for this critical and daunting

task. Despite the fact that he is already preparing to return to the Senate, he will set this

aside to aid in the fight for the country. Aquino also stated that as campaign manager,

he will do everything in his power to ensure that Robredo becomes the next president of

the Philippines. Aquino is credited with devising an effective campaign strategy during

the 2016 vice-presidential race, when it appeared that Robredo would not win. She later

defeated five other candidates to win a narrow victory by just over 200,000 votes over

Marcos Jr., the race's frontrunner. Bam Aquino's data-driven and science-based

approach to election campaigning, similar to his father, Paul, who served as Gloria

Macapagal-strategist Arroyo's in the 2004 elections, enabled his team to clinch the
historic upset win for Vice President Leni Robredo, who rose from 1% in polls to 35% of

the actual votes in the 2016 Vice Presidential Election.

Sonny Melencio is the campaign manager under Partido Lakas ng Masa and is

leading Leodegario “Ka Leody” De Guzman’s presidential campaign. He is currently the

chair of Partido Lakas ng Masa and is responsible for overcoming the difficult task of

passing through five high-profile candidates to carry De Guzman towards victory.

Macababbad (2022) According to Gonzales (2022) Melencio and his camp vows to fight

to the last drop of their blood. They will fight to the death. The goal of their camp is to

"build a movement," emphasizing socialist policies as solutions to the country's

problems. Melencio is a long-time activist who published "Full Quarter Storms: Memoirs

and Writings on the Philippine Left (1970-2010)" in 2010, narrating the struggle of the

Philippine Left across three periods of political turmoil and challenging readers to "strike

boldly and build on the rich history of the struggle for a socialist future."

Buddy Zamora is the campaign manager of Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao Sr. He

is a renowned industry player and business tycoon that will call the shots on the

candidacy of Sen. Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao, who has given up his illustrious boxing

career to try to succeed Duterte on June 30. Macababbad (2022) In his interview with

Karen Davila (2022) Pacquiao, according to Zamora, has built thousands of houses for

free, out of his own pocket, and with his own money. One of his primary goals is to

provide free housing, but his primary goal is to combat corruption. Pacquiao is strong

among the C, D, and E classes, according to Zamora, and they're working on the

grassroots to shore up support rather than actively pursuing Duterte's endorsement,

which has no standard-bearer this election. "Right now, some governors and mayors
are hesitant to openly endorse our candidate because they are still waiting for President

Duterte's position."

RRL:

Punongbayan, M. (2022, February 7). Abalos quits MMDA to serve as Bongbong Campaign
manager. Philstar.com. Retrieved May 23, 2022, from
https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2022/02/08/2159263/abalos-quits-mmda-serve-bongbong-
campaign-manager

Cupin, B. (2015, October 5). Bam Aquino is Robredo's 2016 campaign manager. RAPPLER.
Retrieved May 23, 2022, from https://www.rappler.com/nation/elections/108122-leni-robredo-
bam-aquino-campaign/

Ramos, C. M. (2021, October 8). Bam Aquino gives up Senate bid to head Robredo's 2022
campaign. INQUIRER.net. Retrieved May 23, 2022, from
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1498645/bam-aquino-sets-aside-senate-bid-to-lead-robredos-2022-
campaign#ixzz7U36iSgoI

GMA News Online. (2021, October 7). Bam Aquino Scraps Senate return to become Robredo's
campaign manager instead. GMA News Online. Retrieved May 23, 2022, from
https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/806115/bam-aquino-scraps-reelection-bid-
to-become-robredo-s-campaign-manager-instead/story/

Rappler talk: Buddy Zamora on leading Pacquiao's campaign. RAPPLER. (2022, April 19).
Retrieved May 23, 2022, from https://www.rappler.com/nation/elections/interview-buddy-
zamora-leading-pacquiao-presidential-campaign/

L!fe, P. S. T. A. R. (2022, April 18). All the presidentiables' men: The campaign managers
behind the candidacies of the five survey frontrunners. l!fe • The Philippine Star. Retrieved May
23, 2022, from https://philstarlife.com/news-and-views/494663-presidential-candidates-
campaign-managers

Galvez, D. (2022, May 13). Marcos campaign manager Abalos to become Dilg chief.
INQUIRER.net. Retrieved May 23, 2022, from https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1597286/marcos-
campaign-manager-abalos-to-become-dilg-chief