PIRMA spent P55 million on ‘EDSA-pwera’ ad discrediting Constitution

MANILA, Philippines — A whopping P55 million was spent for the controversial ‘EDSA-pwera’ commercial that took television viewers by surprise on the evening of Jan. 9, People’s Initiative for Reform Modernization and Action (Pirma) lead convenor Noel Oñate confirmed.

The contentious advertisement sought to discredit the 1987 Constitution and the Edsa People Power Revolution. It also claimed that the Constitution failed to improve education and agriculture.

In a Senate hearing on Tuesday on the signature campaign for Charter change, Oñate confirmed the amount spent for the advertisement, saying that half of it came from his own pocket.

“More or less P55 [million, so] around P27.5 million [from me]… Half of that was from several contributors,” Oñate said, speaking partly in Filipino, after he was asked by Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero where the budget came from.

“Some gave P1 million, some gave P500,000, some gave P2 million,” he added.

Escudero took the chance to question who these contributors were, but Oñate did not budge.

“I don’t recall right now,” he said.

Later in the hearing, Oñate said he would need to ask these contributors if their names could be publicized. Agreeing with this, Escudero explained why the Senate would want these contributors to be known.

“The reason why perhaps the committee can compel disclosure is because you know public interest demands accountability and transparency. It’s not something to be ashamed of,” Escudero said.

“So this matter of PI, if you really believe in it, is not something that you should be ashamed or embarrassed about. The same is true with your donors and the part of the public, on our part we’ll accountability and transparency dictate that we should know who are the people behind it,” he added.