Two thousand twenty-two (2022) marks the year for the country's election of its 17th Filipino President. Even before the official filing of candidacies from October 1 to 8, held in Sofitel Philippine Plaza in Pasay City, the Filipino people have long been in a compelling discussion of which color corresponds to their political bias is the best choice to lead the Philippines. During this time, the most notable political colors are pink, yellow, green, and red and from these four colors, unfolds a more complicated contention by the Filipino citizens.

            The 1996 book written by columnist Joe Klein, entitled Primary Colors: A Novel of Politics, revealed the refinement and perverseness of the political campaigns in the United States of America. The campaign of Bill Clinton greatly influenced it. The book portrayed the physically and emotionally-draining process of politics and how the primary colors in the government affect the preference of the people came to light. 

            In Philippine politics, starting from 1992, the national and local elections have been scheduled on the second Monday of May each third year, and the presidential and vice-presidential elections every six years. There had already been a lot of heated conversations related to the elections regarding the two highest government positions. As the days progressed,  the candidates were revealed with some big and expected names of Lacson, Marcos, Moreno, Pacquiao, and Robredo for presidency and Duterte, Go, Ong, Pangilinan, and Sotto for the vice presidency. The uproar of their supporters' protests became visible almost everywhere, particularly on the different Social Media platforms. Once again, the political colors of the Philippines became an issue when Presidential Candidate Leni Robredo, expected to go with the color of yellow, decided to go with the color pink following her commitment to run as an Independent candidate. She mentioned that the inspiration came from her followers as the color reflects femininity which became Vice President Robredo's brand, according to them. Red is the political color of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos's son, Bongbong Marcos, and green became the representation of the Dutertes, specifically the running mate of the former who is the daughter of now-president Rodrigo Duterte, Davao City's Mayor Sara Duterte.   

            The use of colors in the presidential elections has long been a part of the campaigns. In 1986, it became the strategy of former President Corazon Aquino during the People Power Revolution. She chose the color yellow as her symbolism, citing that it was a popular reference from the 1970s song entitled "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree," written by Irvine Levine and Russell Brown. The tune revolved around the story of a newly-released prisoner of war and his contemplation on whether or not his family or friends will still welcome him home. The song somehow discloses the story of Ninoy Aquino, who was exiled near Boston for three years before his supposed come back home in 1983, the year of his assassination on the tarmac of Ninoy Aquino, formerly known as Manila International Airport. Because of this, the Aquinos and their closely-related political mates established yellow as their political color. Yellow stood as the symbolism of human rights and democracy, and it was also the meaning for "Daang Matuwid" during President Benigno C. Aquino's time in leading the country. 

            The information above is probably the reason behind the shock of the mass when Leni Robredo announced her adoption of the pink color for her campaign. Since then, comments, utterances, and criticisms surrounded the air for each of the presidential candidates. Once or twice, we have probably pondered upon why political colors became such a big deal and the beginnings of the squabble of teams pink, yellow, green, and red. Several considerations came to mind when we broke down the causes of this dispute, especially the positives and negatives of the political colors. 

            The politics' color-coding became an insult rather than the proper grounds for someone's vote. Some of us have seen posts with green and red to show support for the "BBM-Sara" tandem and labels such as "Kakampink." However, others also tend to call someone "Dilawan" in talks when they have nothing else to say, clearly portraying the logical fallacy of Ad Hominem. There have also been posts relating the colors pink and yellow to a salted duck egg as a metaphor, adding the captions of "Pink outside but yellow inside." which is considered a commentary to what Robredo's true purpose is behind the change of colors. Another thing, most people depend on what they believe as the predetermined definition behind the color choice and back it up as reasoning of their leadership or what the governmental aspirant stands for. Others base their bias on Color Psychology, which explains that the variation of shades and complexion can significantly influence how someone's brand is perceived. It is not entirely a faulty rationale. However, it can constitute the prejudice that many has for the different colors. It also became the people's motive to vote even though they do not have a candidate they are rooting and convinced to vote for just because they see that one's political color is their favorite. There are also circumstances wherein they detest the contender because they also hate the color that they chose. Sometimes, voters think of how the colors symbolize the political ideology or way of a person's leadership. Ferdinand de Saussure's Theory of Semiotics also gave a good explanation of why people connect colors with concepts as it replaces "something" with "something else." Red is historically associated with socialism or communism, green is linked most of the time to conservation and biodiversity, and yellow stands for liberalism. It is substandard or shallow for some, but some Filipinos use it as validations for the thought behind their vote.

            On the other side, political colors became a fundamental factor in how the people can easily recognize a national government runner. Because of its popularization, it may be able to touch the interests and movements of the citizens politically. It became effortless to remember which team someone was on because of these hues. The author of "Modern Politics and Movement," Alan R. Ball, once claimed that colors could give reality to abstractions and embody some aspect of the dominant political values. With their resources, almost all politicians print out as many posters as they can or share advertisements over several platforms to familiarize voters with them. They also display their chosen color so that it may be able to enhance the image of the party that they are in and send forth the message that they want the mass to know. There may be diverse, specific grounds about the political colors. However, one thing for sure is that we cannot ignore it most, especially if it is a voter's principal reason why they are voting for another.

            Colors can preserve the collective identities of politicians belonging to an organization or party. It shows the propinquity within a group or governmental body. However, it should mean something more than just the political identification of a person, especially a candidate for a high official position. We Filipinos should not solely base our votes on whom we think to have better or purer advocacy because of their political color. One's choice of tone politically will forever be linked to them as the people will be reminded of them whenever they see or hear that particular shade; however, there is still a great extent of things that we must consider in these elections. These are the person's actions to provide for the country, especially their contribution to the pandemic response since 2020, way of leadership, or their open-mindedness to criticisms. These will ameliorate his or her performance in serving the people, and the list goes on and on. 

These points can be applied in the coming elections and to individuals, groups, parties, or organizations hoping to lead the nation. There is still more time left for the Filipino voters to consider their cornerstone on who is the most deserving to win the renewed positions in the following year. They can still figure out the accurate conception behind someone's predominant political color. However, despite this, the most seen and prioritized aspects are the presidency and vice presidency aspirants' beliefs, attitudes, values, how they resolve the issues of the country head-on and give importance to its citizens. So vote according to the color level we want the Philippines to stay on and choose the candidates who will lead the nation towards a genuine change that encompasses their own and their parties' greed and interests. Color symbolisms may be a primitive factor in the elections since they have to be impactful and evocative, but in the end, they will remain as colors and only a part of the campaign. It is up to the entrant who embodies it to paint the Philippines more vibrantly, lively, and towards a better country in flying colors.