Data from Nielsen showed that TV, radio, print, and outdoor billboard ads Lacson ran from January to December 2021 were worth P915.30 million. PHVote WeDecide
MANILA, Philippines – Presidential candidate Senator Panfilo Lacson has run traditional media ads worth almost P1 billion as of December 2021 – when it was still more than a month before the start of the campaign period on February 8 and no law banned or limited pre-election advertising.
Under Republic Act 9006 or the Fair Election Act, a discount of up to 50% on candidates’ TV ads applies, for example. The law is effective during the campaign period, but campaign teams that spoke to the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism said they had received discounts this early. PCIJ reached out to Lacson and his spokesperson, Francisco Acedillo, to ask how the ads were paid. We will update this report as soon as we receive a response.
Domagoso started a massive TV campaign in September 2021 in the run-up to the filing of candidacies, when he was being considered as the candidate of opposition coalition 1Sambayan. The group eventually endorsed Vice President Leni Robredo. After spending about P26,000 in March 2021 and less than P400,000 in July, Robredo began to pour more money into ads in August, when she aired ads worth P52 million. In November, Robredo spent P147.76 million and overtook Moreno’s spending that month.
He ran ads worth P310.26 million in December, or 94% of his total ad spending on traditional media in 2021.