FIVE national candidates during the last May 9 national and local elections spent more than the P2-billion mark with regard to ad spending during the pre-campaign and during the campaign period proper.
Durinfg the “Pera’t Politika Forum” for the campaign ad spending, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) reported that based on Nielsen data, the 5 top national candidates in ad spending were:
1.Sen. Joel Villanueva – P2.775 billion
2.Sen. Mark Villar – P2.770 billion
3.Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano – P2.281 billion
4. Former Vice Pres. Leni Robredo – P2.186 billion
5. Former Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso – P2.019 billion
The PCIJ explained that based on the published rate card, the national candidates mentioned had huge ad spending in mainstream media–television, radio, print, and billboards–from January 2022 up to May 2022.
The winning candidate and now President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. was at number 7 on the list with a total ad spending of P1.76 billion, while based on his Statement of Contribution and Expenditures (SOCE) summary, Marcos received the highest amount of campaign contributions with over P624 million.
But if the 90-day election period will be the basis, Robredo, Villar, Marcos, and Villanueva spent over P1 billion in ads.
According to the PCIJ, the national candidates during the May 9 polls splurged on ads before and during the campaign period.
In fact, some candidates for president, vice president, senator and party-list spent an estimated P211 million daily during the 90-day campaign period.
The overall amount of donation received by President Marcos was supposed to be the biggest in electoral history since the allowable limit was allowed to be raised given the increase in the number of registered voters.
The PCIJ also saw that President Marcos received more donations compared to Robredo, but there was no mention of who these donors were.