P1.3-B pol ads aired, booked

AS OF LAST April 10, P1,320,116,506.81 worth of political ads had already been aired, published, and booked for and by 21 of the 33 senatorial candidates, and 20 political parties and party-list groups.

Print and broadcast media agencies have submitted a total of 287 advertising contracts and telecast orders to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) covering ads aired, published, and/or booked thus far by the candidates and the political parties.

The documents showed that the children of the so-called “Three Kings” of the political opposition, the daughter of “Da King” of Philippine movies, and those born to old and new political clans are the top 10 spenders on political ads.

This is happening amid the seemingly changeless picture of poverty in the land: The administration and opposition political parties and most of their candidates for senator are pouring buckets of money on political ads.

The total value of these ads has already breached the P1-billion mark, but will certainly keep on rising. The ad contracts submitted to Comelec covered only the ads aired and booked for the first 60 days (Feb. 12 to April 10, 2013) of the 90-day official campaign period for national candidates.

By cluster, the ads aired and booked for the opposition United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) coalition and six of its nine senatorial candidates had reached P587,593,483.02, or nearly P100 million less than the P682,898,916.87 ads that had been procured by administration Team PNoy and its 12 candidates.

Read the reports, check out the data tables:

* Kids of ‘Kings’ and clans top spenders: P1.3-B pol ads aired, booked in 60 days
* Money politics questions split candidates for senator

Cagayan Rep. Juan ‘Jack’ Ponce Enrile Jr, only son of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, ranked No. 1 with P151.2 million worth of ads aired and booked.

San Juan Representative Joseph Victor ‘JV’ Ejercito, son of deposed President Joseph Ejercito Estrada by re-electionist San Juan City Mayor Guia Gomez, landed in No. 2 with P137.1 million.

UNA came in at No. 3 with P120.3 million in political ads, including TV spots booked for airing until May 11, 2013, the last day of the campaign.

At fifth spot is newbie candidate Ma. Lourdes Nancy Binay, daughter of Vice President Jejomar ‘Jojo’ Binay, with P82.8 million in ads aired and booked during the period.

Of Team PNoy’s candidates, Aurora Rep. Sonny Angara is the top spender. He ranked fourth in the list with P85.52 million ads aired and booked for and in his name.

Grace Poe-Llamanzares, daughter of the late Fernando Poe Jr., the late “king” of Philippine action films, came in sixth with P74,688,473.45 ads aired and booked in her favor

The bottom spender among Team Pnoy’s candidates is re-electionist senator Antonio ‘Sonny’ Trillanes IV, with P12.41 million.

President Aquino’s Liberal Party, for its part, aired and booked another P68.43 million of political ads during the period, featuring all its 12 candidates.

Completing the Top 10 list of political ad buyers in the campaign’s first 60 days are three LP candidates — former senator Ma. Ana Consuelo ‘Jamby’ Madrigal with P66.7 million of ads aired and booked; the President’s first cousin Paolo Banigno ‘Bam’ Aquino, P56.24 million; and re-electionist senator Loren Regina B. Legarda, P46.95 million.

Former Las Pinas representative Cynthia A. Villar, wife of outgoing senator Manuel B. Villar — the biggest spender on political ads in the May 2010 presidential elections and the wealthiest of the 23 incumbent senators — landed in a surprisingly low spot, No. 16, in the list of 41 ad spenders.

Cynthia Villar’s political ads totaled P32.7 million only, based on the records submitted to the Comelec. It seemed, though, that this modest amount got a supplemental boost from another P32.99 million in ads that her husband’s Nacionalista Party purchased during the same period.

Curiously, some supposedly cash-poor candidates have outranked some supposedly cash-rich candidates.

Former Akbayan party list representative Ana Theresa ‘Risa’ Hontiveros had P31.80 million worth of ads aired and booked for and in her name during the period, compared with much smaller ad buys by four candidates who had served as senators — Juan Miguel ‘Migs’ Zubiri, P28.43 million; Aquilino Martin ‘Koko’ Pimentel III, P27.49 million; Ernesto M. Maceda, P22.19 million; and Trillanes, P12.41 million.

Even Bayan Muna representative Teodoro ‘Teddy’ A. Casino, who is literally “running” across the nation on an avowed tight budget, incurred P8.69 million worth of aired and booked ads, or more than double the P3.81-million ad spend of outgoing Palawan governor Edward S. Hagedorn, according to the documents.

And yet, when PCIJ interviewed 19 candidates for senator about their position on money and politics issues, many said they will strive to rein in their campaign spending, solicit donations, and spend only within the limits of election laws. However, other issues such as the continued disbursement of pork-barrel funds yielded a split opinion among the candidates.