Despite TV ads, Casiño claims he’s cash-strapped

Senatorial candidate Teddy Casiño. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Senatorial hopeful Teddy Casiño on Wednesday took exception to a partial report released by the Commission on Elections placing him among the top five candidates with the longest airtime in terms of television and radio advertisements.

“In all honesty, I am surprised by reports that say I am among the top five candidates who have the longest TV airtime, leaving the impression that I am a big TV ad spender. That is farthest from the truth,” he said in a statement. “The truth is I’m still one of the cash-strapped senatorial candidates.”

Casiño, who is running under the Makabayan Coalition Party, said he has spent P3.77 million for 15.5 minutes of TV and radio ads. He added that while his campaign managers had planned to run 33 spots, only 31 have been aired.

The three-term representative of the Bayan Muna party-list group said Comelec’s tally was “erroneous” because it used only network logs and did not actually monitor the ads.

Furthermore, he said, the Comelec applied a disproportionate method of counting TV airtime, putting at par the TV ads aired at the national and local levels. “It is like treating as equal in height a midget and a giant,” he said.