Duterte had no cash for TV ads during first debate, says camp

DAVAO CITY – Due to lack of funds, PDP Laban standard bearer and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte did not have any ad placement during last Sunday’s presidential debates aired over GMA 7.

Lawyer Paola Alvarez, PDP Laban spokesperson, added that the party saw the series of presidential debates held first in Cagayan de Oro City, as a platform to educate the Filipinos about the political agenda, style of governance, and the goals of Duterte. “We sought it proper not to air TV ads in order for the Filipinos to craft their own perception of the mayor based on their own observation, rather than our paid suggestions,” Alvarez said in a statement.

“We also wanted to see how the people will react to his performance without the help of TV ads,” she added.

Peter Laviña, spokesperson of Duterte and chief of the Duterte Media Team, also admitted that the camp of Duterte could not really afford the pricey TV ads.

“We don’t have the funds,” Laviña said, adding that the Duterte camp did not expect that the “Comelec debate would be relying on commercial ads.”

Despite not having any advertisement during the live show, Duterte was the highly favored debater and candidate by the netizens, generating the most buzz on Twitter.

“Just the same, we were able to reach out to our voters by the abled performance of Duterte,” Laviña said.

Alvarez, on the other hand, said the party was happy with the “overwhelming feedback in favor of Mayor Duterte after the debate.” “We now know that his increase in the surveys is a genuine result of his platform, and not only because of advertisements,” Alvarez said.  SFM

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