The Mayoralty forum

A very interesting event happened yesterday at QC Polytechnic University,. Early that morning, students,teachers and residents of Quezon city are allowed to participate. All running for the position as mayor of Quezon City was invited. They are Mike Defensor, Mel Mathay, Ariel Inton, Annie Susano and Vice Mayor Herbert Bautista. Mel Mathay and Mike Defensor are the only candidates that showed up yesterday, they had the privilege to connect with the people of Quezon City and give the people of QC a glimpse of their platforms and plans if they were elected in the said position.The question raised by students and teachers are pretty common, they are the usual problem of every city, there are questions about the city budget, educational programs, criminal rate, poverty etc. However there are some questions that intrigued me, an example of this "question" is Can they do what Mayor Sonny Belmonte did to Quezon City for his 9 years of service?Can they Do better? Of course the answer is pretty obvious, they said that they will try their best to do more for the people of Quezon City.

As what i observed from these 2 candidates, the way they answer the questions are different. Mr. Mel Mathay is very precise and specific, while Mr. Defensor is always looking for the big picture. They have different approach and they are answering things in a different manner and in different perspective. Mr. Mel Mathay is giving examples on what to do to the city's little needs that can make a big difference, like helping out the sari sari store owners to improve the livelihood of the residents of Quezon City which is i think is good because i'm a believer that we should attend to the little things first, so we can have a better view of the big picture. As they say Big things come in small packages. He is direct to the point in answering questions. In the other hand, Mr. Defensor is very good in research, he is mentioning the percentage of businesses and the latest trends that can affect Quezon City. Mel Mathay is not into research since he is not mentioning any percentages etc, he is getting his answer on how he knows the people of Quezon City since he was in the position before. He also said that he is not really into labels because what is important is the fact that he knows he was able to help and serve.

I would like to treat these candidates as Brands like Pampers, Tide, Colgate etc. They have their own strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. They have competitors and target market to analyze. As a brand they have messages to deliver, so their consumers will stay loyal and new consumers will be curious to try them. Mel Mathay is no different. He is just like a trusted product/brand before who is out in the market for awhile and he is making a come back. As we all know a Brand is promise, and it should be delivered by experience, In this case, Mel Mathay does have experience.

Feel free to give more information or comment. Let's help one another for a better future. The future of Quezon City is in our hands.