Karylle slams campaign gimmicks: ‘Voters deserve more than jingles’

Karylle | Image: Instagram/@anakarylle

Filipino singer and TV host Karylle has called on voters to demand more from election candidates, emphasizing the need for substance over gimmicks. 

Speaking recently on the radio show “Good Times,” Karylle criticized campaign strategies that rely on jingles and TikTok dances, urging the public to focus on debates and platforms that address the nation’s issues. 

“That’s why we have to demand it as voters, as people… It is our job as voters to be more noisy about… right namin na mapanood kayo (it is our right to watch you). Gusto namin marinig (we want to hear) more than your jingle, more than your TikTok dance, whatever. What are you about? We want to know. We have to demand this. This is our right,” she emphasized.

The “It’s Showtime” host underscored the importance of using “one’s brain” when it comes to choosing the right candidate to elect into positions of power.

“We have to reclaim our voice as the voting public, especially women. The right to suffrage — we didn’t really have that all this time, but we have it now. So we have to just be loud about it. And we have to be comfortable about being loud,” she stated.

“Let’s educate the voters and make sure that we are all educated. You, as a voter, should, you know, use your own brain… Even with religion, you have to discern for yourself. Because you have to think for yourself,” added the singer-host.

Karylle’s statement comes at the start of the campaign period for the upcoming 2025 midterm elections and the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC)’s “peace rally” amid the feud between President Bongbong Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte.

Meanwhile, after headlining the musical play “Little Shop of Horrors” in 2024, Karylle recently joined the cast of the upcoming Filipina-fronted reality show “Manila Matriarchs.”