Wazzup Pilipinas!?
Vantage Influence, headed by Political Strategist and Founder, Aron Shaviv, organized an exclusive conference dubbed as Campaign Playbook Live 2026, last May 29, 2026, at Shangri-La The Fort, Bonifacio Global City in Taguig—bringing together political experts, media practitioners, and panelists for an all-around discussion about Philippine politics and campaign strategy.
Shaviv, who has helped elect 22 heads of state ranging from Prime Ministers and Presidents from countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa, officially opened the day-long exclusive conference—citing what truly makes a good candidate to win.
Shaviv has been hailed as the Best International Political Consultant by the American Association of Political Consultants. He has also won the Best International Campaign award from Campaigns and Elections Magazine. He specifically mentioned, “Everyone in this room will always understand Philippine Politics and figuring out how do we win? How do we get voters?”
Shaviv explained that key components to a winning candidate are the intangibles it brings to the table—money, media exposure, and education. He added that he once pitched to the Mayor of Zagreb, Croatia, Milan Bandic, for his presidency in 2007. The political expert shared how he told Bandic, “How does my life get better if I vote for you?”
Furthermore, he shared how a discussion with a daughter of a former President from a Southeast Asian country tackled an upcoming impeachment at the time. He noted that a successful campaign is based on diligent and rigorous research.
The conference kicked off with the changing demographics of the Filipino voter from Millennials in 2016, Gen Z in 2022, and how the Gen Alpha will affect the outcome of the 2028 National Elections. President and Chief Executive Officer of Tangere, Martin Peñaflor, gave a social platform, TikTok, as an example for campaign ads and engagement.
Peñaflor also stated that the strategy of bringing voters starts from the marginalized sector or rural voters. “Do I have money to put food on our table?”—citing poverty as a major concern and the usual platform where political candidates create their strategies to win the elections.
Roland Ramirez, Managing Director of Insightspedia, also shared that one move could shift the dynamic and balance of an election. He shared that voters change opinions too as they are humans—citing a candidate who almost lost due to a remark made that stirred controversy among voters.
Ramirez added that poverty is still the number one factor for winning candidates to take advantage of as the majority of the voters are transactional. “When you pump in money, that’s basically it.” The discussion also tackled that an effective candidate is the one who really studies their purpose and goal and is aware of their popularity among the people.
The conference gave panelists a platform to discuss topics like how rampant vote buying is in the Philippines. It is where key indicators like segments of voters are given money to convince them to vote. There is also a dialogue that centered around how some politicians spend major resources to the point of getting loyal supporters, opposition, and the undecided.
Another highlight of the event featured the current trend of how the Filipino voter gets educated. The presence of social media for one has generated public interest in the ongoing Senate proceedings.
Moreover, the conference also talked about the creative side of campaigning through digital promotion which mostly centered around the poor sector, energy, housing, and fight against corruption. The creativity also discussed the common tactic where Filipinos have one commonality which is having television and cellphones.
It focused on how Filipinos are technologically savvy where we can just find a simple campaign dance and jingle on TikTok and Facebook reels from political candidates—citing the catchiness could eventually live rent-free in the heads of voters in what we usually call “LSS” or Last Song Syndrome.
These campaign strategies and placement of ads are usually available on social and radio which is a medium that is practically available almost everywhere. Media practitioners, political analysts, and public strategists also discussed the growing role of artificial intelligence in elections.
The role of artificial intelligence centered around the responsible use of new technology where fake news and deepfake are forms of media—like an image, video, or audio recording—digitally edited or completely generated by artificial intelligence.
The participants were able to get firsthand insight on how political campaigns work in the country and how we can maximize our right to vote and the options we have through efficient candidate selection.
As the Philippine Senate conflict regarding pending warrants of arrest, and issues like political ethics, flood control, and corruption take over the most trending topics in politics, the conference also gave participants a platform for political education, innovation, and voter awareness as the country begins its road to national elections in 2028.
Written by: Renz Delim
Ross is known as the Pambansang Blogger ng Pilipinas - An Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Professional by profession and a Social Media Evangelist by heart.
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