Imee Marcos laments high cost of political ads

TACLOBAN CITY — Senatorial aspirant and Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos ‘pleaded’ with the media entities not to demand what she called ‘outrageous’ advertisement ads.

According to Marcos, who was in the city on Friday to woo Waray voters, said almost 80 percent of candidates’ campaign funds go to political advertisements.

And the high cost to place a political ad in the media placed at the disadvantage candidates like her who do not have much to shell out.

“Otsenta porsenyento ang gastos namin nasa inyo, media. Bakit kayo naniningil ng ganyan?Dapat shared public affairs; dapat may information,” she said during a media interview.

She asked the media not to get mad at her with her statement on this issue saying it’s really ‘true’.

“Mas mayaman ka, kahit papano, nakakagbayad ka,” she said.

It was learned that for a candidate to have a television ad, for example, he or she has to shell out P800,000 per 30 seconds if shown in prime time while a 15-seconder ad will cost P500,000.

A study by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) shows that Marcos has spent P413 million from January 2018 to January 2019.

A former presidential aide, Christopher ‘Bong’ Go was said to have topped the list at P422 million expenditure.

Both Marcos and Go belong to the administration-backed Hugpong ng Pagbabago(HnP).

While Marcos appears to lament the high cost of media advertisement, she admitted that media exposure remains to be a factor for a candidate, especially those seeking a national position like her.

She said a 90-day campaign period is not enough to cover the entire Philippines and get the voters’ nod.

“It’s all about media exposure. Hindi mo maiikot ang buong Pilipinas,” she said.

She added that while she uses the social media as another campaign tool which, she said, is considerably cheaper compared to mainstream media, ‘even a fan page is being torn down,” she said.

Marcos could be alluding to the case of the presidential daughter and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, HnP campaign manager, whose Facebook account was shut down.

The senatorial aspirant then hoped for reform on electoral campaign spending, like making the government share the election expenses of candidates, especially the less financially privileged.

Asked how much was her war chest on her senatorial bid, Marcos declined to say, though she cited the case of her brother, former senator Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos when he ran for vice president in 2016.

A PCIJ report has indicated that Bongbong spent P42.8 million in tv ads in 2016.

Outgoing senator Francis Escudero spent the highest at P236 million followed by eventual winner Leni Robredo who spent P225 million.

The Ilocos Norte governor said she hoped she could get the majority votes of Eastern Visayas, the country’s eighth vote-rich region with over three million registered voters.

On Friday, she barnstormed the cities of Ormoc in Leyte; Naval town in Biliran; Catbalogan City in Samar and in Tacloban, the region’s capital city, with more than 100,000 registered voters.

TACLOBAN CITY — Senatorial aspirant and Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos ‘pleaded’ with the media entities not to demand what she called ‘outrageous’ advertisement ads.

According to Marcos, who was in the city on Friday to woo Waray voters, said almost 80 percent of candidates’ campaign funds go to political advertisements.

And the high cost to place a political ad in the media placed at the disadvantage candidates like her who do not have much to shell out.

“Otsenta porsenyento ang gastos namin nasa inyo, media. Bakit kayo naniningil ng ganyan?Dapat shared public affairs; dapat may information,” she said during a media interview.

(Eighty percent of expenses are with you, media. Why are you charging us that? It should be shared public affairs; there should be information)

She asked the media not to get mad at her with her statement on this issue saying it’s really ‘true’.

“Mas mayaman ka, kahit papano, nakakapagbayad ka (The rich you are, you can pay),” she said.

It was learned that for a candidate to have a television ad, for example, he or she has to shell out P800,000 per 30 seconds if shown in prime time while a 15-seconder ad will cost P500,000.

A study by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) shows that Marcos has spent P413 million from January 2018 to January 2019.

A former presidential aide, Christopher ‘Bong’ Go was said to have topped the list at P422 million expenditure.

Both Marcos and Go belong to the administration-backed Hugpong ng Pagbabago(HnP).

While Marcos appears to lament the high cost of media advertisement, she admitted that media exposure remains to be a factor for a candidate, especially those seeking a national position like her.

She said a 90-day campaign period is not enough to cover the entire Philippines and get the voters’ nod.

“It’s all about media exposure. Hindi mo maiikot ang buong Pilipinas,” she said.

She added that while she uses the social media as another campaign tool which, she said, is considerably cheaper compared to mainstream media, ‘even a fan page is being torn down,” she said.

Marcos could be alluding to the case of the presidential daughter and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, HnP campaign manager, whose Facebook account was shut down.

The senatorial aspirant then hoped for reform on electoral campaign spending, like making the government share the election expenses of candidates, especially the less financially privileged.

Asked how much was her war chest on her senatorial bid, Marcos declined to say, though she cited the case of her brother, former senator Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos when he ran for vice president in 2016.

A PCIJ report has indicated that Bongbong spent P42.8 million in tv ads in 2016.

Outgoing senator Francis Escudero spent the highest at P236 million followed by eventual winner Leni Robredo who spent P225 million.

The Ilocos Norte governor said she hoped she could get the majority votes of Eastern Visayas, the country’s eighth vote-rich region with over three million registered voters.

On Friday, she barnstormed the cities of Ormoc in Leyte; Naval town in Biliran; Catbalogan City in Samar and in Tacloban, the region’s capital city, with more than 100,000 registered voters.