Health as an Electoral Currency in the Philippines: Insights from Political Ethnography

Abstract

Background and Objectives: This article aims to contribute to the literature on health and politics in the Philippines. So far, the wealth of studies on the intersection of these two in the local context has been mostly focused on issues of health sector reform and specific health policies/legislations. Unlike elsewhere, the use of health in elections in the Philippines, the most important political activity in any democracy, remain largely understudied. This article attempts to fill this gap by studying the ways health was used in the 2016 Philippines elections. To do this, I mapped the ways health is used as an electoral currency, meaning as a means for vote brokerages, during local elections.

Methodology: The observations that informed this study are based on a political ethnographic study in Quezon City. In-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and participant observations were conducted among voters and politicians of two vote-rich electoral districts in the city. The transcripts and notes from the data gathered were coded and thematically analyzed.

Results and Conclusion: Voters and politicians use health as means of transactional exchange of votes during local elections- an electoral currency. Politicians use their control of public health facilities and services to secure votes while voters simultaneously use their vote as a leverage to gain access to these health facilities and services and improve its delivery in their communities. So while politicians use health to reinforce patron-client ties during elections, voters take advantage of its opportunities to improve their everyday life.