Proem

Originally the word "derby" was applied to the annual horse race held at Surrey, England since 1780. Nowadays, in Bohol and other parts of the Philippines, it refers to a cockfighting tournament in which each team could have from three to five fighting cocks as entries.

Formerly the team used was Pintakasi. In the Sugboanon Bisaya language, a pintakasi means a voluntary communal work done for a public project like making a school building. Since the term Pintakasi did not really fit the cockfight tournament it eventually went into disuse.

Derby Procedure

In a cockfight derby, a team with its name would be entered as a participant. If it is a 5-cock derby, the team will be composed of five (5) fighting cocks. The team would be accepted as participant if it will put in "pot money." A "pot money" is a fix amount, say P10,000. These pot monies will be lumped together and to be won by the team that will have the most number of wins in individual cockfights. If there will be ten teams as participants, then the winner will earn P100,000.

Election Analogy

This writer (Jes B. Tirol) has been conducting election poll surveys since 1978.

Throughout these years, this writer has noticed that the Boholanos view and electoral contest similar to a cockfight derby. The more the people are cynical or dissatisfied with the type of people as candidates, the more the election fits the Derby analogy.

The candidates use a political party name. The derby participants also use a team name. Each member of the political party will fight for the position they are aspiring.

Each cock in a derby team will fight to the death individually. The winning political candidate enjoys the perks and privileges of his office. The individual winning cock will earn for the owner the bets. If majority of the candidates in a political party will win, then the party will run the "whole show" in the administration. If majority of the individual cocks in a derby team will win, then the team owner gets the jackpot.

Undesirable Consequence

We notice that the analogy of our election process and the cockfight derby fits snugly. However, before a team could participate in a cockfight derby it must put in the "pot money." No "pot money" means no participation.

In like manner, majority of Boholano voters want the "pot money" from the candidates. No "pot money" means no consideration as a candidate to be voted.

This situation gave rise to the Inangayan during elections. If the candidate has no inangayan he is already out of the race. The inangayan is viewed as reimbursement for expenses incurred by the voters when going to polling places.

After the Inangayan comes the uwan-uwan. The uwan-uwan is considered as a hedge or compensatory bet by the candidates. The higher the uwan-uwan the more likely will the voter votes for the candidate. Sometimes the inangayan and the uwan-uwan are combined if the uwan-uwan is really big.

Another type of bet is the púsil. This is individual money demanded by certain voters for their vote. If is similar to the logro made by kristos in the cockpit. It must be noted that the more the candidates are viewed as unsatisfactory, the higher will be the demand for púsil money.

It must be borne in mind that if and when the prominent candidates are viewed as blatantly undesirable, the inangayan, uwan-uwan, and púsil will just be accepted and the voter will vote for the underdog or the unknown candidate. This is similar to taking a side be during a cockfight as to which cock will strike first, which cock will be wounded first, etc.

For this coming May 14 election, in the national scene, it is my observation that voters are viewing most of the senatorial candidates as blatantly undesirable. So do not be surprised if one among the underdogs or unknown candidates will win in the senatorial election.