Re-electionist Sen. Joker Arroyo slammed media research firm AC Nielsen yesterday for repeatedly coming out with “libelous” figures on the money spent by candidates on political advertisements.
Arroyo, who is dubbed a Scrooge for being tightfisted on the expenditures of his office, challenged AC Nielsen to either provide documents to back up its report that he spent P170 million on television and radio ads for the May 14 polls, or apologize.
He also sought an investigation to determine how the firm was coming out with its public disclosures.
“The responsible officers of AC Nielsen must make a public apology for freely and maliciously reporting that I had spent P170 million on television and radio advertisements in the current election campaign,” Arroyo demanded in a statement.
“Nielsen’s false and malicious report in the midst of the elections that I spent that kind of money caused me tremendous numbers of votes. Repeating such libel in the midst of the national canvass impugns the integrity of my election,” he added.
Arroyo pointed out that as of April 20, he had spent only P26 million for his advertisements and that other expenses were shouldered by his party, Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino or Kampi.
Arroyo, who ran under the administration’s Team Unity, explained earlier that being the only senatorial candidate of Kampi, he got all the airtime allotted for the party as well as ample financial support.
“But no way will I spend P170 million for the ads,” he stressed.
“I do not want to dignify the allegations by explaining and enumerating what I had spent for the campaign, Nielsen should be the one to show the basis for its reports.”
The former Makati City representative said he could not understand why AC Nielsen kept releasing figures without verifying it first with the candidates.
“If Nielsen insists that its figures are correct, figures which I flatly deny because nowhere near have I spent that kind of money, then an investigation is in order to determine who is right and who is wrong,” Arroyo stressed.
“This is a simple case. All that Nielsen has to do is to produce receipts worth P170M for TV and radio advertisements that it claims I had spent,” he said.
Arroyo said he would not seek an investigation before a Senate committee to avoid any hint of partiality.
“I will even agree that it be heard before a body composed of Nielsen’s peers in the industry. This issue must be settled,” the senator said.
Arroyo also said earlier that AC Nielsen was also not computing the discounts given to the candidates by giant television networks.
During the 90-day election campaign, AC Nielsen reported that Arroyo and fellow TU bet Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay spent a total of P202.746 million on television and radio advertisements.
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.
But Pichay reiterated that AC Nielsen got its numbers wrong.
In a statement, he also said he didn’t spend P202.746 million for the ads.
Pichay explained that the amount quoted by AC Nielsen as his advertising expenses was based on the face value of rate cards of TV and radio stations. He said candidates like him were given huge discounts, ranging from 20 to 50 percent.
He did not say how much discount he got and how much he spent on political ads. Based on discounts of 20 to 50 percent and AC Nielsen’s P202.746-million total, he must have spent between P101.373 million and P162.197 million.
Pichay said at the right time, he would report to the Commission on Elections his election expenses, including advertising.
He said his funds were contributed by “friends, supporters and relatives” and by the ruling Lakas party.
In AC Nielsen’s list of big spenders, Pichay is followed 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 was Arroyo, P170.090 million; followed by Sen. Edgardo Angara (TU), P144.055 million; and former senator 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 senator Teresa Aquino-Oreta, P117.154 million; former senator 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 ABS CBN News Channel report based on the AC Nielsen figures. 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 initial election results show that “political advertisements and huge expenses do not win elections.” – With Jess Diaz