2 anak, bayaw ni GMA wagi
Hey big spender!
If the recent electoral contest were reduced to who spent the most on political advertisements instead of who received the most number of votes, Team Unity’s Prospero Pichay Jr. would be the topnotcher.
During the 90-day election campaign, Pichay spent a total of P202.746 million on television and radio advertisements, according to an ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC) report that was based on the findings of media research firm AC Nielsen.
Pichay was the biggest spender since the start of the campaign. Two weeks into the campaign, AC Nielsen reported that Pichay had already spent more than P130 million on political advertising.
The Surigao del Sur congressman spent an average of P2.24 million a day on political ads alone. The amount did not include other campaign-related expenses, including posters and other paraphernalia, and sorties.
Pichay is followed in the list of big spenders by Senate President Manuel Villar of the Genuine Opposition (GO). Villar, a billionaire-businessman who made his fortune as a real estate developer, spent a total of P195.233 million on ads.
The third biggest spender on political ads, is ironically, the Senate’s own “tightwad,” Sen. Joker Arroyo of Team Unity (TU), P170.090 million; followed by Sen. Edgardo Angara (TU), P144.055 million; and former Sen. Loren Legarda of GO, P138.216 million.
The next seven biggest spenders are all from TU: Sen. Ralph Recto, P137.440 million; Mike Defensor, P121.480 million; former Sen. Teresa Aquino-Oreta, P117.154 million; former Sen. Vicente Sotto III, P115.923 million; Bukidnon Rep. Juan Miguel Zubiri, P105.596 million; Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis “Chavit” Singson, P99.035 million; and Zambales Gov. Vicente Magsaysay, P88.387 million.
Only the 12 biggest spenders were covered in the ANC report. The combined political advertising expenses of the 10 candidates from TU and two from GO amounted to P1.635 billion.
Of the 12 biggest spenders, only Villar, Legarda, Arroyo, Angara and Zubiri are making it to the winners’ circle in both the official vote count of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the unofficial tabulation of the National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel).
Pichay has so far been placing 14th or 15th place in both Comelec and Namfrel tallies, behind Recto.
In an interview on ANC a few days ago, Mahar Mangahas, who heads pollster Social Weather Stations, said the emergency election results show that “political advertisements and huge expenses do not win elections.”
It could not be ascertained if any of the biggest spenders violated Comelec-set spending limits on political advertising. Each candidate was allotted a total of 120 minutes of advertising time.
Before the campaign started, candidates estimated that 120 minutes of advertising time could cost them between P100 million and P150 million.
Last May 7, election spending watchdog Pera’t Pulitika cautioned Pichay and Villar that they were already beyond the expenditure ceiling set by the Comelec.
As of that date, the group, which is composed of young lawyers, revealed that the Surigao congressman had already spend P151.7 million, while the Senate boss had shelled out P138.2 million.
Commenting on Pera’t Pulitika’s revelation, Pichay said the group got its numbers wrong.
He said the organization could have based its figures on the “rate card” charges of television and radio stations and not on their “discounted rates.”
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