Ads worth over P4 billion have already been aired on TV and radio stations in the Philippines before candidates formally filed their certificates of candidacy for the 2025 elections. Two prominent senatorial candidates, Camille Villar and Imee Marcos, accounted for half of this spending, highlighting the growing influence of money in Philippine politics.
Ads worth more than P4 billion have already aired on TV and radio stations across the Philippines even before candidates filed their certificates of candidacy (COCs) in October 2024. Close to a hundred candidates for senator, party-list and district representatives, other local positions, as well as political parties, aired TV spots worth P3.7 billion and radio spots worth P342 million from January to September last year, based on published rate cards.
The data was obtained by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) from Nielsen Ad Intel, which monitors candidates’ spending. The amounts are based on published rate cards or before discounts may have been given to the candidates’ teams. A Nielsen report shows that TV remains to be an important medium to reach voters. Digital platforms widen the reach, it said. The candidates also had billboards all over the country worth P70 million and ads on print media worth P18 million.Two senatorial candidates, scions of the country’s biggest and most influential political clans, account for half of the total advertisements. Las Piñas Representative Camille Villar and Senator Imee Marcos each had ads worth P1 billion before the COC filing, based on published rate cards. It is not known if they received — and how much — discounts from media organizations that provided space for their advertisements. “The amounts are staggering. It tells you that will go up as we move forward in the 2025 elections,” Jean Encinas Franco, associate professor at the University of the Philippines’ Department of Political Science, told PCIJ. The amounts do not include candidates’ spending on social media, which Franco believed, is already significant. The amounts also do not include the cost of producing the advertisements of the candidates, the maintenance of their campaign offices, and salaries of campaign staff, among other regular expenses. It shows how candidates have ignored legal timelines, said former Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioner Luie Guia. “Candidates have recognized that they have to really project themselves earlier on as serious contenders. Unfortunately, that means spending so much money to have a more effective reach,” Guia told PCIJ. Guia said the other candidates are expected to attempt to match the heavy ad spending of their rivals, setting the stage for another expensive election. Attempts to “even the playing field” have been undermined, he said. “Well-resourced candidates still would have much leeway despite what the law says,” he said. Stronger laws regulating premature campaigning and campaign donations are needed, said Arjan Aguirre, assistant professor at the Ateneo de Manila University. “We can see so much campaign activities or political operations going on a year before an electoral cycle,” he said, citing heavy government spending in localities for “ayuda,” which electoral reform groups said has been abused by incumbent politicians to curry favor with voters. He said amendments to the country’s Omnibus Election Code are also needed to give the Comelec the powers and resources to monitor the flow of funding to parties.Television received the lion’s share or about 90% of the candidates’ advertising budget for traditional media, based on Nielsen Ad Intel’s monitoring. “Television remains to reach around 8 out of 10 Filipinos, with duration spent watching television not lower than one hour per day. Compared to other countries, the Philippines has one of the highest reach in terms of platform,” Nielsen said in a report. Agri party-list Representative Wilbert Lee, also a senatorial candidate, recorded the biggest spending on outdoor media. Lee, among the biggest spenders on social media, did not air ads on TV and radio during the nine-month period. He had print ads worth less than P250,000. Meanwhile, Las Piñas congressional candidate Senator Cynthia Villar (P2.6 million) and House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez (P1.3 million) recorded the biggest spending in print ads, followed by EduAksyon party-list group (P1.2 million).The rising cost of running for elections in the Philippines underscores the weakness of political parties, according to PCIJ’s interviewees. “Political parties are becoming less capable of doing their work during campaigns since they are now being replaced by personalities from ad hoc campaign teams composed of market practitioners and PR firms,” said Aguirre. The substance of campaigns has suffered as a result, he said. Instead of discussing issues, candidates have focused on what is appealing and sellable to peopl
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