Bayan Muna asks Roxas to bare fund source for political ads

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – The election campaign period has not yet officially started but political advertisements have started airing as early as June and politicians featured in the ads might be using public funds, a lawmaker said.

Bayan Muna Partylist Rep. Carlos Zarate singled out the campaign funds of Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas who was “anointed” by President Aquino as the standard bearer of the administration’s Liberal Party.

“It seems that they are really bent on building up a more ‘masa’ image for Mar Roxas, as his face is conspicuous on TV morning shows and his campaign ads are all over TV. But it makes us wonder where Mar Roxas is pulling all the money from,” Zarate said.

Fifteen seconds of a primetime commercial spot would cost at least P250,000, while 30 seconds on TV could cost P500,000. His TV placements early in the game have made questioning his fund sources a valid point, he added.

As the administration’s presidential bet, Roxas’ 2015 budget for the Department of Interior and Local Governments has been “padded” to ensure enough campaign funds, Zarate claimed.

“The 2015 budget was described as an elections budget, as it was padded here and there to provide the administration substantial fuel for their campaign train. The DILG, for example, with Mar Roxas in the stern, has a whopping P104.5 billion budget in 2015. The DILG was given funds for housing and water system projects, which are not in its mandate. Budget Secretary Florencio Abad cleverly crafted the 2015 budget to service the allies of the administration,” Zarate said.

Zarate noted that the funds of DILG have significantly increased from the allotted P65.6 billion in 2010. With this huge amount of taxpayer’s money at his disposal, it was no wonder that Roxas was allowed to stay in his post until the filing of his certificate of candidacy in October, Zarate said.

“As the so-called anointed one, Secretary Roxas has practically now at his disposal the vast machinery and resources of the government. Thus, questions about the sources of his early massive campaign ads are not outlandish,” Zarate said.

Bayan Muna said that these lump sums provided to Roxas and other administration candidates who hold positions in big government agencies have become “vulnerable to abuse for corruption and patronage, especially with Malacañang’s brazen moves to perpetuate the pork barrel system.”

“Additionally, the heavy funding of the DILG to local government units is a campaign maneuver, because it is common knowledge among politicians that LGUs are the base in ensuring electoral victories for presidential races,” Zarate asserted.

For Bagong Alyansang Makabayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr., the maximization of public funds and government machinery is like a flashback to the tactics of jailed former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during the controversial 2004 elections.

“This unapologetic abuse of power is supposedly what PNoy (President Benigno Aquino III) and his party fought against, but now they are guilty of the very same evils they once condemned,” Reyes said.

And with Roxas’ survey ratings sliding down compared to the administration’s archenemy Vice President Jejomar Binay, Senator Grace Poe and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, the administration is hellbent to use available government resources to sell him to the public, according to Reyes.

“Roxas could have irrevocably resigned out of delicadeza, but it’s obvious that his resigning and Aquino’s refusal to accept it is all a show, just for appearances, just to impress upon us that he supposedly has integrity,” Reyes said.

Roxas earlier submitted his resignation but was turned down by President Aquino who explained that he was vital to completing the administration’s programs in the agency.

Bayan said Roxas might be going around the country under the guise of doing his work for the DILG but television news of these events clearly showed political campaigning with the active participation of President Aquino and Cabinet members.

Through the agency’s capability enhancement program, Roxas has been going around the country to meet with local politicians and to distribute police patrol cars and firetrucks.

“He has also been visible in the distribution of ’emergency funds’ for victims of 2013’s Typhoon Yolanda,” Reyes said.

“It’s been more than 500 days since Yolanda, the victims have been clamoring for housing, livelihood and financial assistance for years. Now it arrives courtesy of Mar Roxas during the initial stages of preparations for the May 2016 presidential elections. The timing is obvious,” Reyes added. (Karlos Manlupig, Inquirer Mindanao)