Table 1. AD DURATION OF CANDIDATES FOR VICE PRESIDENT ON ABS-CBN 2 AND GMA 7 (NOVEMBER 1, 2009 TO FEBRUARY 8, 2010)

* Roxas’ total minutes plus half of “Team Aquino-Roxas” minutes Figure 1. COMPARATIVE TOTAL AD VALUES OF CANDIDATES FOR PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT (NOVEMBER 1, 2009 TO JANUARY 31, 2010)

Table 2. AD VALUES AND INDICATIVE AD SPENDING OF CANDIDATES FOR VICE PRESIDENT (NOVEMBER 1, 2009 TO JANUARY 31, 2010)

* Ad values were taken from Nielsen data, which were computed based on published rate cards for 2009. TV ad values were reduced by 50 percent to arrive at the indicative real ad cost.

Table 3. TV AD VALUES AND INDICATIVE SPENDING CANDIDATES FOR VICE PRESIDENT (FERUARY 1-8, 2010)

* Ad values were taken from Nielsen data, which were computed based on published rate cards for 2009. These were then reduced by 50 percent to arrive at the indicative real ad cost.

Table 4. AD VALUES AND INDICATIVE AD SPENDING BY CANDIDATES VICE PRESIDENT, FIRST MONTH OF CAMPAIGN (FEBRUARY 9 – MARCH 8, 2010)

* Ad values were taken from Nielsen data, which were computed based on published rate cards for 2009, except for TV ad values for March 1-8, which were computed based on the published rate cards for 2010. To arrive at the indicative ad costs, the COMELEC-prescribed discounts were applied, i.e., 30% for TV, 20% for radio, and 10% for print.

Table 5. AD DURATION OF CANDIDATES FOR VICE PRESIDENT ON ABS-CBN 2 AND GMA 7
(FEBRUARY 9 TO MARCH 8, 2010)

Just like their respective parties’ standard bearers, the leading candidates for vice president have poured in hundreds of millions of pesos on political advertisements on television.

The official campaign period started only last February 9, but from November 2009 to February 8, 2010, four candidates for vice president — Liberal Party’s Manuel ‘Mar’ Roxas III, Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino’s Jejomar ‘Jojo’ Binay, Nacionalista Party’s Loren Legarda, and Bagumbayan Party’s Bayani Fernando — had already incurred a total of P561.5 million in advertising values for television, radio, and print ads.

Minus discounts of up to 47 percent granted by media agencies at the time, the net indicative spending on these candidates’ political ads amount to P294,417,894.

In the first month of the 90-day campaign period, or when campaign finance laws also started to take effect, the four showed more tempered spending, as did their running mates.

From February 9 to March 8, 2010, the combined spending on political ads of the four candidates and Bangon Pilipinas’s Perfecto Yasay Jr. amounted to only P167,814,890, according to published rate cards of media agencies.

Minus discounts allowed by the Commission on Elections (at the rate of 30, 20, and 10 percent for TV, radio, and print, respectively), the combined indicative cost of these candidates’ political ads during the 28-day period amounted to only P144,327,68.

Some candidates, however, may now be counting on dividends from their early investments in political commercials.

The pre-campaign ad juggernaut by Roxas, for instance, seems to be helping him maintain his lead in the vice-presidential race even though he has drastically slashed his ad expenditures since the campaign began.

Data from the media monitoring agency Nielsen Media show that Roxas’s tri-media ad buys have fallen by as much as 61 percent from his January ad placements. Yet results of pre-election surveys by the country’s two leading polling firms Social Weather Stations and Pulse Asia since December 2009 reveal voter preference for Roxas to be holding at a consistent 40 percent and above.

Over airtime cap

Observers credit Roxas’s survey showing in part to his considerable investment in “advocacy ads” and “infomercials” way before parties even began announcing their respective candidates for the May 2010 elections. Indeed, by the time fellow Liberal Party Senator Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino announced his presidential candidacy on September 9, 2009, Roxas’s ads had been running on TV for months.

Originally planning to run for president, Roxas eventually gave way to Aquino, who was suddenly pushed into the forefront after the death of his mother, former president Corazon ‘Cory’ Aquino. Roxas’s ads even appeared to have suddenly petered off after it became clear that Aquino was considering to run in the presidential race.

Roxas, however, did not hold back for long. According to Nielsen data, of the P431-million worth of ad placements by vice-presidential candidates from November 2009 to January 2010 alone, 43 percent or about P184 million in value belonged to Roxas.

The senator had also logged a total of 155 minutes of ads on ABS-CBN 2 and 130 minutes on GMA 7 from November 1, 2009 to February 8, 2010.

Had the campaign ad airtime caps been in force during that period, Roxas would have already overshot the limit of 120 minutes per station, at least in the country’s top two networks.

Same for Binay

But then so would the PMP’s Binay, who posted comparative totals of 134.5 minutes on ABS-CBN 2 and 124 minutes on GMA 7 during the same period.

Binay, the mayor of Makati City, had placed P137-million worth of ad spots from November 2009 to January 2010 as well. Among the vice-presidential candidates, he is second only to Roxas in terms of ad-placement worth in the three months before the campaign period.

Of the eight vice-presidential candidates, only half ran ads before February 9, 2010: Roxas, Binay, Legarda, and Fernando, former Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chairman.

Of the four, only Binay had pre-campaign ad values that exceeded that of his running mate. In fact, Binay’s ad placements were 1.6 times higher than those of the PMP’s standard bearer, former president Joseph ‘Erap’ Estrada.

Coincidentally, like Roxas, Binay had also originally planned to run for president and had began placing numerous TV ads extolling his achievements as chief executive of Makati in early 2009. He was said to have begun having second thoughts about aiming for the presidency after Aquino, son of Binay’s former political patron, announced his candidacy for the position.

Not big on ads

Political strategists explain the frenzied ad placement and spending by many candidates before the start of the official campaign period as a way of going around caps on campaign expenditures and the amount of commercials each candidate places.

The law says that vice-presidential candidates, like those running for president, can spend a maximum of P500 million, or P10 per voter. A candidate’s political party may also spend another P5 per voter, or P250 million.

And yet choosing to sit out the pre-campaign ad splurge were Dominador ‘Jun’ Chipeco (Ang Kapatiran Party), Eduardo ‘Edu’ Manzano (Lakas-Kampi-Christian Muslim Democrats), Jose ‘Jay’ Sonza (Kilusang Bagong Lipunan), and Yasay.

Since February 9, Yasay has joined Roxas, Binay, Legarda, and Fernando in placing ads. But his spots in the first month of the campaign period have barely amounted to P1-million worth, even as he shares those ads with his running mate, preacher Eduardo ‘Eddie’ Villanueva.

Binay, meanwhile, has since cut back on his ad expenditures – just like Roxas. Nielsen data show that Binay’s ad buys in the first 30 days of the campaign have shrunk by as much as 67 percent from his January figures.

Unlike Roxas, however, Binay’s survey showing has been less than steady, with Pulse Asia having him at 14 percent in December, 13 percent in January, and 15 percent in February.

Still, SWS has him making modest gains, getting 10 percent in December, 16 percent in January, and 17 percent in February.

Campaign analyst Ronald Jabal of AD & R Strategic Communications has pointed to the public perception of Binay as a “local candidate” as a handicap to his quest for a national post.

This cannot be said of Roxas or of Legarda, who is still in the second spot in terms of voter preference in surveys.

Legarda’s numbers, though, have been slipping since December, according to both Pulse Asia and SWS.

Perhaps this is why Legarda made a considerable TV ad push a week before the start of the campaign period, Nielsen data reveal.

From February 1 to 8, 2010, Legarda bought TV spots worth a total of P48.76 million – about 63 percent of the value of all her tri-media ad placements from November 2009 to January 2010. The amount also topped those posted by Roxas, Binay, and Fernando.

Last-minute splurge

Fernando, who is fourth in surveys, appears to have tried a tactic similar to Legarda’s.  He, too, made a last-minute splurge on TV ads right before the start of the campaign period, snapping up TV ad placements that had a total value of P23 million. And while Binay’s TV commercials were worth some P13 million more, Fernando’s total TV-ad buy for that period was 74 percent of the value of his tri-media placements between November 2009 and January 2010.

Unlike Roxas and Binay, Legarda and Fernando have increased their ad expenditures since the start of the campaign period. The value of Legarda’s ad spots rose by five percent from her January number, while that of Fernando grew by eight percent.

In the first 30 days of the campaign, Legarda had already consumed two-fifths of her allowable minutes on ABS CBN 2, and a fourth of her limit on GMA 7. By comparison, Fernando had a decidedly more modest total of 15 minutes on ABS CBN 2 or 12.5 percent of the allowed minutes per station for each candidate, and 18.5 minutes (15.4 percent) on GMA 7.

It is actually Roxas who is second to Legarda when it comes to total number of ad minutes logged in each of the top two networks since February 9. Roxas’s tally at ABS CBN is 24 minutes, while at GMA he has consumed 33.5 minutes.

The combination of media platforms for candidates’ advertisements, however, has begun to change going into the campaign period. While print’s share of their total ad values is still less than one percent, Nielsen data show that TV’s share has dropped to 77 percent from a high of 94 percent  pre-campaign period.

By comparison, radio’s share has shot up to 23 percent from a measly six percent pre-campaign.

Jabal says that this rise in radio’s share could be attributed to radio-ad rates, which are way lower than those of TV.

Radio cheaper

Placing ads on radio is about nine to 16 times cheaper than on TV. Even if the Comelec-imposed 30-percent discount were applied, a 30-second ad spot on primetime TV would still cost a candidate a hefty P303,015 on ABS-CBN 2 and P332,640 on GMA 7. By contrast, a 30-second ad spot placed on these two networks’ AM radio stations DZMM and DZBB would cost only P32,641 and P24,000 respectively if the Comelec-imposed 20-percent discount for radio were applied.

Jabal also says that at this stage of the campaign when candidates are already going to the regions, transferring a larger part of the advertising budget to radio (from TV) makes good sense for a candidate’s campaign strategy, as radio is a medium by which candidates will be able to “hit their market” or reach audiences in targeted localities across the country.

Thus Legarda, who had no radio ads from November 2009 to January 2010, now had 24 percent of her total ad values for the first month of the campaign going to radio.

Some 20 percent of Binay’s ad values for the same period were also for radio, as were nine percent of Roxas’s. Pre-campaign, the comparative figures for Binay and Roxas were nine percent and five percent, respectively.

However cheap, though, placing ads on radio cannot be indefinitely employed by candidates as a campaign strategy, as each national candidate is allowed by the Fair Election Practices Act only 180 minutes per radio station for the entire duration of the campaign.

Yasay has yet to have a radio spot. Fernando, meanwhile, is the only one who has reduced instead of increased his ad placements on radio, with their share of his total ad value going down by 5.5 percentage points from the pre-campaign figure.

For sure, if the current candidates were to go by the book in their strategies, the second month of the campaign should see a sharp rise in their ad expenditures.

Next 30 days

Jabal explains that strategists usually divide the 90-day campaign period into three 30-day phases. Ideally, he says, the first 30 days are devoted to creating awareness about the candidate. This is thus the stage where the candidate spends the least.

Then comes the next 30 days, where the awareness created during the first phase is supposed to be deepened. In other words, says Jabal, the candidate should now be convincing voters that he is capable of running the country by talking about issues and explaining to them the programs he will be implementing should he win. One of the most obvious ways to do that is through commercials, making this stage the “ad capital” of any campaign.

By the final 30 days of the campaign, all that should be left to do would be to remind voters of the candidate’s accomplishments and what he plans to do if he wins. This last phase, according to Jabal, is again largely for creating awareness or name recall among voters. Candidates can therefore spend less during this stage than in the previous one.

But judging from the way the campaigns are being run so far in this country, as well as from trends in past elections, Jabal predicts that candidates’ ad spending would probably peak in the last 30 days of the campaign instead of during the second phase. That’s because, he says, campaigns in the Philippines have generally been stuck at the “awareness level.”

Commenting on the content of the current ads of the vice-presidential candidates, Jabal says that all of these are merely for the purpose of creating name recall among voters.

“The agenda are not ventilated because (candidates) resort to mudslinging early on,” he also says. “They always say that Pinoys have matured, but how come (candidates) are not discussing issues?”  - PCIJ, March 2010

Table 1. Political Ad Placement of Candidates by Medium, February 9 – March 8, 2010

Source: Nielsen Media, as of March 8, 2010

Notes: Latest Nielsen data for radio and print covers only the period of Feb.9 to 28, 2010.
Discounts applied in the indicative costs are based on the implementing rules and regulations of the Fair Election Practices Act.

Table 2. Top TV Networks, February 9 – March 8, 2010

Source: Nielsen Media, as of March 8, 2010

Notes: Ad values computed by Nielsen are based on the 2009 published rate cards, except for data entered on Mar. 1-8, 2010, which are based on the 2010 published rate cards. Actual amounts for this period could be slightly lower. Thirty-percent discounts in TV ads are applied as per the implementing rules and regulations of the Fair Election Practices Act.

Table 3. Airtime Bought per TV Network, February 9-March 8, 2010

Source: Nielsen Media, as of March 8, 2010

Note: The duration of airtime that a presidential candidate may use is 120 minutes per TV network.

Table 4. TV Ads of Presidential Candidates in ABS-CBN 2 and GMA 7, February 9 – March 28, 2010

Source: Nielsen Media, as of March 8, 2010

Notes: Ad values computed by Nielsen are based on the 2009 published rate cards, except for data entered on Mar. 1-8, 2010, which are based on the 2010 published rate cards. Actual amounts for this period could be slightly lower.
Thirty-percent discounts in TV ads are applied as per the implementing rules and regulations of the Fair Election Practices Act.

Table 5. Top 10 Programs, February 9 – March 8, 2010

Source: Nielsen Media, as of March 8, 2010

Notes: Ad values computed by Nielsen are based on the 2009 published rate cards, except for data entered on Mar. 1-8, 2010, which are based on the 2010 published rate cards. Actual amounts for this period could be slightly lower.
Thirty-percent discounts in TV ads are applied as per the implementing rules and regulations of the Fair Election Practices Act.
TV ratings are based on Nielsen’s January 8-11, 2010 surveys among Mega Manila households.

Table 6. Projected Airtime Bought in Top Five AM Radio Stations, February 9-28, 2010

Source: Nielsen Media, as of February 28, 2010

Notes: The duration of airtime that a presidential candidate may use is 180 minutes per radio station.
Latest Nielsen data for radio and print covers only Feb.9 to 28, 2010.
Twenty-percent discounts in radio ads are applied as per the implementing rules and regulations of the Fair Election Practices Act.
The top five AM stations are also the top five among all radio stations including FM stations.

Table 7. Projected Airtime Bought in Top Five FM Stations, February 9-28, 2010

Source: Nielsen Media, as of February 28, 2010

Notes: The duration of airtime that a presidential candidate may use is 180 minutes per radio station.
Latest Nielsen data for radio and print covers only Feb. 9 to 28, 2010.
Twenty-percent discounts in radio ads are applied as per the implementing rules and regulations of the Fair Election Practices Act

According to Comelec Resolution No. 8758 or the “Rules and Regulations Implementing RA 9006, otherwise known as the Fair Election Practices Act in Relation to the May 10, 2010 Synchronized National and Local Elections, and Subsequent Elections,” all media entities, whether print or broadcast, are required to submit copies of their political advertising contracts within five days after these are signed. If a political ad is donated, a written acceptance by the candidate, political party, or party list group for which the donation is being made should be attached to the advertising contract.

Broadcast media outfits are also supposed to submit certified true copies of broadcast logs and certificates of performance covering political advertisements by four preset deadlines: March 9, April 9, May 8, and May 14.

The networks’ certificates of performance are official reports certifying the airing of ads for the account holder (or the entities that placed the ads). These reflect the dates and time when the ads were broadcast. Broadcast logs, meanwhile, are running accounts of all political advertisements (whether commercial, political, or otherwise) broadcast by a particular station in a given day.

For the purpose of complying with Comelec requirements, the networks’ submitted broadcast logs reflect only the political ads that were run in a given day.

Yet of the 10 free-to-air TV stations that aired political advertisements in the first three weeks of the campaign (February 9-28), only four had submitted the required documents as of March 9, the first of the preset deadlines.

Of these four, only ABC 5 submitted all the three sets of documents required by law: advertising contracts, broadcast logs, and certificates of performance.

ABS-CBN 2 submitted its advertising contracts and certificates of performance, but failed to submit its broadcast logs. Moreover, the network did not submit the complete certificates of acceptance that would correspond to all the contracts for donated political ads it has broadcast.

GMA 7 and its affiliate QTV-11 gave their broadcast logs and certificates of performance, but were remiss in submitting the required advertising contracts.

The rest of the free channels – including the three government-owned stations – failed to submit any document to Comelec despite their airing of political ads from February 9 to 28: NBN 4, RPN 9, Islands TV 13, Studio 23, RJTV 29, and SBN 21.

Cable TV channels are also subject to the same requirements as the free TV channels. As of March 9, SkyCable had submitted the reports of Channel 49-AXN, Ch. 28-CNN International, Channel 32-Star Sport, Channel 55-Star Movies, and Channel 48-Star World. Those of Cinema One, Lifestyle Network, MYX, and ANC, were submitted by ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation.

Among the 25 Metro Manila-based AM and FM radio stations that Nielsen monitored to have aired political ads from February 9  to 28, meanwhile, only the AM and FM stations owned by ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp. had submitted their reports to Comelec as of the March 9 deadline.

GMA Network’s AM station DZBB was mentioned on the title page of the broadcast logs and certificates of performance that the network submitted to Comelec. All of its documents, however, pertain to GMA 7 alone, with no DZBB-related paper included in the report.

Comelec education and information division head James Jimenez says, however, that they allow errant networks to complete their submissions within the “deadline week.” After that, he says, they compile a list of those who have yet to submit the required documents for the legal department to take care of.

At the very least, the documents already with the Comelec make for interesting reading, even with just an initial review.

For instance, among candidates who have bought ad spots well ahead are:

• Senator Ramon ‘Bong’ Revilla Jr., who is running for re-election, has already secured 129 ad spots for the entire duration of the campaign (February 9 to May 8) with ABS-CBN 2 worth P34 million;

• Vice-presidential candidate Mayor Jejomar Binay, who has bought 960 spots from ABS-CBN 2 covering February 19 – March 25, and April 5 – May 8 worth P1.3 million; and

• Senator Miriam D. Santiago, who has secured for herself 102 ad spots on ABS-CBN 2 for February 9 – April 30 worth P26 million, in her bid for yet another run at the Senate.

Revilla, in addition to his ad buys, also signed a separate contract for two guest appearances in the TV program “Agimat” on February 20 and February 27. Per contract, each of these guest appearances was to last for 30 seconds, and was charged the same rate as a 30-second political ad on prime time.

Meantime, supposedly marginalized groups are not necessarily without deep pockets. One example is the Akap-Bata Party List, which claims to represent Filipino children; it has signed three advertising contracts for 100 ad spots worth P23.6 million, and this is with ABS-CBN 2 alone. The contracts cover the periods March 5 – 13, March 14-20, and March 21-27.

Another party list, A-Teacher, which represents teachers and other school personnel, has entered into a contract with ABS CBN 2 for a more modest P777,815 worth of ads.

But there are entities other than political parties and candidates that appear in the documents submitted by the networks. For instance, among those on GMA 7’s certificates of performance are: Friends of Mar Roxas (for Mar Roxas), Publikasia, Inc. (for Genuine Opposition), Friends of Twenty Ten (for Friends of Twenty Ten), Caret, Inc. (for Risa Hontiveros), Team Bayani (for Bayani Fernando), and Bagumbayan Volunteers (for Richard Gordon).

Nielsen data reveal that a total of 233 programs in 14 various networks carried political ads of presidential candidates from February 9 to March 8, 2010.

Primetime shows emerge as the ad placement of choice for candidates. The top ten programs with the heaviest traffic of political ads comprise nine primetime shows and one noontime show. Six of the ten programs appear on ABS-CBN 2 and the four on GMA 7.

GMA 7’s news program 24 Oras carried the most number of political advertisements with 78 ad spots worth a total indicative amount of P26.48 million. Next is ABS-CBN 2’s teleserye “Habang May Buhay” with P18.82 million worth of ads followed by GMA 7’s  fantaserye “The Last Prince” with P17.63 million and ABS-CBN 2’s news program TV Patrol World with P15.35 million.

The other top programs are “Agua Bendita” (ABS-CBN 2), “Kung Tayo’y Magkakalayo” (ABS-CBN 2), Carlo J. Caparas’s “Panday Kids” (GMA 7), “Rubi” (ABS-CBN 2), “Full House” (GMA 7), and “Wowowee” (ABS-CBN 2).

The top 10 shows have an audience share between about 20 percent to more than 30 percent, based on the January 2010 Nielsen surveys among Mega Manila households.

One percent of audience share is estimated to be viewed by around 80,000 households. This means that an advertisement placed in any of the top 10 shows is viewed by more than a million to about 2.5 million households. – PCIJ, March 2010

This is even as data from media monitoring agency Nielsen Media indicate a relatively tempered ad-spending among the candidates, compared to the three months prior to the start of the campaign period.

As it is, Nielsen says that from February 9 to March 8, 2010, Nacionalista Party standard bearer Senator Manuel ‘Manny’ Villar had racked up ads worth P150 million or about 34 percent of the P442 million total ad value posted by the six candidates who had placements in TV, radio, and print.

Previously, Nielsen had noted Villar as having placed ads worth about P1 billion from November 2009 to end of January 2010. Network insiders, however, acknowledged the practice of giving considerable discounts for ad placements, which may have reduced Villar’s bill to only P500 million.

The law also says that there should be 30-, 20-, and 10-percent discounts on TV, radio, and print ads placed during the campaign period. This means Villar’s ads during the first month of the official campaign period may have cost him only P106 million.

While that figure has kept him as the unbeaten the ad-spending topnotcher among the nine presidential candidates, it represents just 20 percent or so of the P500 million (or P10 per voter) maximum campaign expenditure allowed each of them. A candidate’s political party may also spend another P5 per voter, or P250 million.

There thus seems to be a lot of spending wriggle room left for Villar. But he may run into trouble if he chooses to spend much of what he has left on more TV spots – as do Senator Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino III of the Liberal Party, and former President Joseph ‘Erap’ Estrada of the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino.

Last 40 minutes

All three have just a little more than 40 minutes of ad time each left to place in ABS-CBN 2 and GMA 7, Nielsen data show. As a result, political campaign strategist Ronald F. Jabal says that Villar, Aquino, and Estrada may have a hard time sustaining their campaigns on TV until May.

The Fair Election Practices Act (Republic Act No. 9006) allows each candidate a maximum airtime of only 120 minutes for TV ads, computed per station, during the official campaign period.

According to Nielsen, Villar’s daily average ad spending for TV from February 9 to March 8 was about P3.6 million or about 17 TV ads in various networks.

He placed 159 ad spots in both GMA 7 and ABS-CBN 2, logging a total of 79.5 minutes (worth more than P45 million) in each network.

This leaves Villar with 40.5 minutes or 81 30-second ads in each of the networks until May 8, the last day of the campaign period.

Aquino, whose TV-ad spending is second only to Villar’s, is in a similar predicament.  The senator logged 76 minutes on ABS-CBN 2 worth an estimate of P39.1 million and 66 minutes on GMA 7 valued at P32.9 million. He is now allowed only 44 minutes or 88 30-second ads on ABS-CBN 2 and 54 minutes or 108 30-second ads on GMA-7 until the campaign period ends.

In the campaign period’s first month, Aquino’s ads appeared on TV at an average of 16 times per day, spending an average of P2.9 million daily. His total ad expenditures, including radio and print, come to P83.3 million, inclusive of discounts.

Estrada, whose ads so far have come out only on ABS-CBN 2 and GMA 7, has logged 77.5 minutes in the former and 65 minutes in the latter. His remaining air time is recorded at 42.5 minutes or 85 30-second ads on ABS-CBN 2 and 55 minutes or 110 30-second ads on GMA-7.

Estrada’s daily average TV ad spending for February 9-March 8 was P2.80 million or about 11 spots per day. His total ad expenditure for the period, with discounts, amount to P72.6 million.

Nielsen Media has imputed the 2010 published rate cards of the media agencies for the candidates’ TV political ads from March 1 to 8 even as the Comelec has ruled that the 2009 rate cards should apply.

Of the seven free-to-air TV stations that carried political ads on primetime shows from March 1 to 8, three increased their 2010 rate cards: ABS-CBN 2 by 15 percent; GMA-7 by 10 percent; and QTV 11 by 15 percent.

Comelec watching

Ferdinand Rafanan, legal department head of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), says the election body is monitoring the candidates’ ads and spending and will issue a warning to candidates who are almost near the allowed broadcast air time limits.

Penalty for candidates who overspend is removal from public office or disqualification to join future elections, which will be imposed by the Comelec, and imprisonment of one to six years, which will be imposed by the Court. Penalty for other violations in the law is imprisonment of one to six years, which will also be imposed by the Court.

Interestingly, three months before the start of the campaign period, Estrada’s total ad expenditure was the least among six presidential candidates who had ad placements, even trailing behind preacher Eddie Villanueva (Bangon Pilipinas Movement).

This time around, however, Estrada, with a discounted total tri-media ad cost of P72.6 million, has placed third after Villar and Aquino.

Fourth is Senator Richard ‘Dick’ Gordon (Bagumbayan Party), who spent a discounted total of P48.8 million. Much of this apparently went into TV-ad placement. So far, Gordon has used up about 40 percent of his allowed broadcast air time on ABS-CBN 2 and GMA 7, clocking 52 minutes and 43 minutes, respectively.

That leaves him with only 68 minutes or 136 30-second ads on ABS-CBN 2 and 77 minutes or 154 30-second ads on GMA 7 in the next two months.

Shifting, sliding

Administration bet Gilbert ‘Gibo’ Teodoro, meanwhile, surprisingly posted a total discounted ad expenditure of P266,092 for the campaign period’s first month, a drastic dive from the estimated P115 million he spent just last January. From November 2009 to end-January 2010, Teodoro had posted a total of P184.4 million, which had made him second only to Villar in total ad expenditures.

Villanueva, in fact, outspent Teodoro between February 9 and March 8 in terms of ad placement costs. The Jesus Is Lord leader’s ad spots for the period cost him, with discount, a total of P715,149. This, however, was also a deep plunge from his estimated total January ad spending of P20 million.

Within the campaign period, Villanueva has placed TV ads on GMA-7, as of March 8, logging a pithy 3.5 minutes there. He therefore has 116.5 minutes left or 233 30-second ads allowed on GMA, and a full 120 minutes total on ABS-CBN. (Villanueva also placed ads on QTV-11 – a joint venture of GMA Network and ZOE Broadcasting Network that has Villanueva as its founder — for a total of 1.5 minutes, and RPN 9, where he had a total of 1.5 minutes of spots.)

Teodoro, by comparison has yet to place an ad on ABS-CBN 2 and GMA 7 since February 9.  His “Galing at Talino” ad, however, appeared three times on Studio 23, which is part of the ABS-CBN family, last February 13.

In truth, only Aquino, Estrada, and Gordon have actually increased their ad expenditures, if one compares their first-month ad placements with their average monthly ad-spot costs from November 2009 to January 2010.

Even Villar pulled back his ad expenses by about 26.7 percent, compared with his average ad-placement bills three months before the campaign period started.

On air, on ground

Aside from the legal constraints, strategist Jabal, who is senior partner at the AD & R Strategic Communications, Training and Research, says that the change in a candidate’s ad expenditure could be strategic. Take Teodoro, he says: the candidate came out with numerous ads during the pre-campaign primarily for awareness purposes. Now, says Jabal, his camp is focusing more on the campaign on the ground.

“(T)hey are now relying on the machinery in order to deliver for them not just the awareness but the conversion (into votes),” Jabal explains. They’re already going to use that so this (campaign) will not entirely be media related. This is already ‘warm bodies’.”

In recent news reports, the former defense secretary had said that he had not released any new ad because he had yet to approve a concept for one.

But Jabal comments: “I don’t think it’s a matter of choosing what kind of ad or what medium to use (because) nothing came off of that, so why choose that particular channel? Why not keep the resources now to grassroots, because he has been made to believe that the community, the mayors, and the machinery will be able to bring in the votes.”

Jabal says that the Teodoro camp might have already discounted advertisements because they did not benefit from it so they are now relying on the machinery that other candidates do not have.  He adds that Teodoro may be thinking that “once the local campaign kicks in with the machinery, ‘that would bring me the survey results that I want.’”

In the case of Estrada, the increase in ads may not be a matter of trying to win more votes. According to Jabal, there has always been some suspicion that the country’s former chief executive was not really bent on finishing the race, and may merely be building “awareness” to strengthen his bargaining leverage should he decide to withdraw.

Jabal notes that Estrada’s fairly respectable showing in surveys is an affirmation that people still like him.

“If you connect that to the suspicion that he might withdraw from the electoral race, nagpapataas siya ng profile, nagpapataas siya ng bargaining leverage,” says Jabal. “(It’s like Estrada saying) ‘I still have a lot of supporters. If I withdraw, I can shift those numbers to a particular candidate, which means that mas mataas ang aking bargaining leverage.’”

Curious contracts

In the meantime, Jabal warns that candidates may find ways to skirt around provisions in the law and still appear to be maintaining the allowed ad expenditure and broadcast air time.

Indeed, there are already ads that seem to invite questions, such as those for two candidates – say, Aquino and runningmate Senator Mar Roxas, Villanueva and Perfecto Yasay Jr., and Estrada and Makati Mayor Jejomar ‘Jojo’ Binay.

There are also ads that are entered into contract by a political party, even though the content of the ad is actually for a particular candidate. Examples so far are Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino, which purchased a number of political ads for its standard bearer Estrada; Nationalist People’s Coalition for Senator Loren Legarda, who is running for vice president; Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) for Binay; Bagumbayan Party for Gordon; and Nacionalista Party for Villar.

Then there are the party-list group ads that appear to echo those of a presidential candidate or bear some of his symbols and colors.

Among these is Akap-Bata Party List’s ‘Dagat ng Basura (Sea of Trash)’ ads on TV that are reminiscent of Villar’s most popular commercial. Its spots, which ran during the first 30 days of the campaign period, had a total value of P34 million. Applying the 30-percent discount required by law, the ads that aired from February 9 to March 8 would have actually cost P23.9 million.

Resolution No. 8758 or the implementing rules and regulations of the Fair Elections Act do not clearly state how the ad expenditure and broadcast air time used in these ads will be recorded. Comelec legal department head Rafanan also says that the Commission has no applicable guidelines yet on how to resolve these cases.

Who paid for it?

But James Jimenez, head of Comelec’s education and information division, says that the law “leaves a lot of room for variations.”

“The law says registered political parties have so much time,” he says. “What do you expect political parties to do? Sure, literally, you can expect them to promote their own party. But in a high-stakes election, why would you waste your precious air time…when you can use it to promote your own candidate? So yes, it might look like you’re…violating the law, but in fact you’re not. There’s nothing wrong with what you’re doing.”

According to Jimenez, an ad’s ability to “create associations” with certain candidates is “outside the scope” of the Comelec.

“For instance,” says Jimenez, “Noynoy’s ad, the one with rap, there’s a portion there that says, ‘Bagong Henerasyon.’ Now Bagong Henerasyon is a party-list group of Bernadette something. Then (its) ad is all yellow, uses the same fonts as Noynoy’s, uses the same symbology as Noynoy’s. But it doesn’t matter. It’s still counted (as) Bagong Henerasyon’s because it’s really the ‘paid for’ clause that (matters in law).”

Still without any ad placement are presidential candidates Senator Ana Consuelo ‘Jamby’ Madrigal (Independent), Nicanor ‘Nicky’ Perlas (Independent), and John Carlos ‘JC’ de los Reyes (Ang Kapatiran). Comelec recently disqualified Vetellano Acosta of the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan from the presidential race. – With additional reporting by Che de los Reyes, PCIJ, March 2010

This report exposes what population experts call a statistical anomaly with grave implications on the conduct and results of the May 10, 2010 elections the inexplicable sharp spike in the population growth rate of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Between 2000 and 2007, ARMM posted a 5.46 percent population growth rate, or almost triple the national average of only 2.04 percent.Except for Metro Manila, the nations center of commerce, education and government, all other regions posted slower growth rates.

HE has racked up nearly a billion pesos worth of TV ad spots, by network rate cards, in the last three months alone, but indications are that Nacionalista Party standard bearer Senator Manuel ‘Manny’ Villar Jr. can comfort himself that so far every centavo of that has been money well spent.

Indeed, campaign strategists and public-relations experts point to Villar’s ads as the major reason why he has been able to catch up with the frontrunner in the presidential race, Senator Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino III, who has now challenged him to a one-on-one public debate.

Just a few months ago, the Liberal Party’s Aquino was leading the pack by a big margin. But a Pulse Asia survey conducted in January showed Villar and Aquino practically neck and neck, while most of the other candidates failed to register any significant change in their ranking.

Political strategists say that Villar’s stellar showing in the January survey can be traced partly to his bombardment of the airwaves with ads that made him top of mind when Pulse Asia took the poll. Yet more importantly, they say, Villar’s ads have been effective in communicating a message that resonates with people: that as someone who rose from poverty, Villar knows not only the hardships of the poor, but also how to help them out of their rut.

No core message

Pulse Asia chief research fellow Dr. Ana Maria L. Tabunda notes, “Frequency by itself does not work. You have to have a message that appeals and is credible.”

By comparison, the five other presidential candidates who placed TV ads from November 1, 2009 to January 31, 2010 either had no core message or delivered this poorly. This is even as each of them also plunked down millions – some in the hundreds of millions – of pesos for TV ad placements.

Data gathered by the media monitoring agency Nielsen Media show that among the presidential candidates, Villar placed the most number of TV ads in the three months prior to the start of the official campaign period. The Villar campaign bought 2,565 spots, which based on the networks’ published rate cards had a total value of P950.86 million. (The actual amount paid, however, could be lower due to possible discounts.)

Administration candidate Gilberto ‘Gibo’ Teodoro Jr. was a far second with P368.77 million for a total of 1,153 spots. Aquino, meanwhile, was third with over P254.14 million for a total of 520 spots, including half of the ads placed by Team Aquino-Roxas.

Presumably, Aquino had more of the expensive primetime ad spots than Senator Richard ‘Dick’ Gordon (Bagumbayan Party), who had twice Aquino’s number of TV placements (1,136), but which Nielsen said were valued at only a total of P238.67 million.

Placing fifth in terms of total TV ad value was Brother Eduardo ‘Eddie’ Villanueva of Bangon Pilipinas, with 464 spots worth P88.29 million. Former President Joseph Estrada of the Pwersa  ng Masang Pilipino was in sixth place, with 281 ad placements valued at P83.1 million.

One weapon in arsenal

Political ads, of course, are only one of the weapons in the arsenal of candidate who is determined to win. At the minimum, however, ads motivate people to find out more about the candidate.

Ronald F. Jabal, chief strategist and senior partner at the AD & R Strategic Communications, Training and Research says that ultimately, this can lead to behavior change, which is expressed during election time.

Although the sheer volume of Villar’s TV ad placements dwarfs those of Aquino and company, PR experts and strategists say what is helping or making these really count is the consistent message in all of them — that Villar is “tunay na mahirap, para sa mahirap (the real poor, for the poor).”

This includes his most recent ones, and especially the most successful so far: the “Dagat ng Basura (Sea of Garbage)” ad, which aired 815 times on various TV networks in December 2009 and January 2010 (more than 40 percent of the total number of spots Villar bought during those months). Nielsen says the “Dagat ng Basura” spots are worth more than P319 million.

The “Dagat ng Basura” commercial contained many elements of an effective ad. Foremost of this was its catchy song that was not only easy to sing, but also had imaginative and memorable lyrics. It asked, for instance, if one had ever taken a bath in a sea of garbage or if one had spent Christmas in the streets. It was implied that Villar had gone through such experiences – and then it segued into the candidate’s staple message of being “tunay na mahirap, may tunay na malasakit (the real poor, with real empathy).”

A serenade?

Just days after the ad first aired, PR and ad industry insiders were already taking notice of it and discussing its merits, particularly its accompanying tune. More importantly for Villar, though, potential voters like Imelda and Ronaldo Linson were being serenaded with the song even when their TV was off.

The Linsons, who have a small home-based cassava cake business in Cavite, have two young sons. As Imelda recounts, the boys had quickly picked up on the Villar ad jingle while watching TV during their Christmas break and were soon singing it, along with their playmates.

The Linson boys may have probably been inspired by the fact that children also sing the jingle in the ad. For strategist Jabal, what the ad is conveying through this element is that future Filipinos will be able to benefit if this particular candidate wins. In marketing, he says, there is such a term as “pestering power” — that when children talk about things, people listen.

‘Kurot sa puso’

Having children deliver the candidate’s message also made the ad very appealing, says veteran campaign strategist Lito Banayo. It could have been just another political ad without the children, he says.

“You know, no matter how poor the little children are, little children are always nice to look at,” says Banayo. “So, may kurot sa puso. (It pulls at the heartstrings).”

Then there was the ad’s shrewd timing, which made the song sung by children all the more poignant. Comments Malou Tiquia, co-founder of Publicus Asia, a lobbying and political management firm: “It resonated because it was Christmas and there was one line there “Nakapagpasko ka na ba sa kalye (Have you ever spent Christmas in the streets)?”

In comparison, timing seems to have been one of the problems with an ad put out by Gordon’s camp. The ad, “Hindi Natutulog Ang Pasko (Christmas Doesn’t Sleep),” aimed to tell people how and where Gordon the Philippine Red Cross chairman had spent the recent holidays – out on field, helping people in times of need. It even featured a familiar Christmas carol, “Silent Night,” which practically everyone, young and old alike, knows how to sing.

Unfortunately, the ad aired in January 2010, when Christmas was already over. According to Jabal, the music made the ad “a bit laughable.” To others, it also made the “feel” of the commercial too “melancholic,” which was quite in contrast with Gordon’s gung-ho public persona.

If not for these, 47-year-old housewife Jeanette Pangilinan would have found the commercial a perfect fit for Gordon. At the very least, Pangilinan says, she can vouch for Gordon as being “helpful,” having been living in Olongapo City when he was still its mayor. Pangilinan says that Gordon helped people find employment when the U.S. naval base in Subic closed down and many lost their jobs. She also recalls how he would get mad at market vendors who would raise prices whenever a typhoon struck the city.

In shadow of Kris, Cory

Ironically, that degree of familiarity with the public is sorely lacking with frontrunner Aquino, who has spent much of his life in the shadow of the more famous members of his family, notably his parents and his youngest sister, starlet-TV host Kris Aquino.

His was a surprise candidacy as well, apparently having no plans to stand in the 2010 presidential election had not his mother, former President Corazon ‘Cory’ Aquino, passed away last August and he was subsequently pushed by her supporters into the race.

In many ways, thus, the very first ad run by the Aquino campaign was meant to introduce him to the public not only as the worthy successor of his parents in leading the country, but also a candidate already enjoying popular support.

The commercial was actually a music video, featuring an original song that was a nod to a popular slogan used by supporters of his father Benigno Jr. or Ninoy during the last years of the Marcos era. The commercial, which had a chockfull of celebrities in all shapes and sizes, was shot at night and had Aquino being passed a torch at the end.

Nielsen data show that Aquino’s “Hindi Ka Nag-iisa (You Are Not Alone)” ad and its seven other versions were shown 185 times in various TV networks in November 2009, with their total worth reaching over P100 million.

Stars made mark

But whatever message the ad was trying to convey was lost to much of the public. And instead of noticing Aquino, some people made a game out of identifying the many celebrities who participated in the commercial.

“It looked as if it was a unity video for television networks,” Jabal says on the actors and actresses from rival networks ABS-CBN and GMA-7 who appeared in the ad.

Even the soaring original song penned by singer-songwriter Ogie Alcasid and sung by Regine Velasquez failed to save the commercial. It was simply not “jingly,” says Jabal. “You can’t sing it yourself unless you’re a really good singer like Regine Velasquez.”

Tiquia, meanwhile, thought that the ad was “really a downer.” She quips, “It’s like you are saying that your parents led the country for nine years and yet we are still in the dark.”

Early this year, though, the Aquino camp released another commercial. In the entire 60 seconds of “Covenant with the Nation,” Aquino enumerated his “fight” for several issues. In the end, he said that he would do his best to serve the country and promised that he would not steal.

This is considered to be the first ad where Aquino tried to concretely say something: that he is not corrupt. To Jabal, however, Aquino was simply making yet another promise, but “it’s not backed by a track record.”

Jabal clarifies that he is not saying Aquino is lying, only that the Aquino campaign should have included proof to back the candidate’s claim: “‘Heto ako ngayon at heto ako bukas,’ which means that whatever I will do in the future I can do that because I’ve already done that.”

Tiquia, for her part, says Aquino’s message that he is not corrupt could be working, but he cannot just stop at saying that he is not corrupt. “What does that mean?” she asks. “Are you for bank secrecy law? There’s got to be more details.”

Municipal office clerk Hazel del Rosario, for one, says she has the impression that should Aquino become president, he would just follow whatever he is told to do by those around him. The 27-year-old mother of three also says she is unsure of Aquino’s I-will-not-steal promise, commenting, “Isn’t it in politics, it’s always me first before anyone else? That’s how things really are, right?”

A liability

Fittingly enough, Aquino’s cousin Gibo Teodoro is himself struggling to introduce himself to the public even as he tries to emerge from the shadow of someone else – in his case President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. But political strategists say he has already been packaged as an administration candidate, which has become a liability since the current government is an unpopular one.

“His refusal to dissociate himself from that administration and his refusal to even comment on the things that have been done by the administration is pulling him down,” Jabal explains. “So regardless how good (his) ad is, yes, it might help, but the biggest stumbling block will always be there.”

As Banayo sees it, Teodoro cannot be packaged on either trust because of President Arroyo, or on poverty because he has never been poor. Teodoro’s team therefore had to think in terms of his personal competence and came up with the tagline “Galing at Talino (Competence and Intelligence),” a play on his initials.

First, though, Teodoro, who quit as defense secretary late last year to run as president,   came up with a series of ads called “Dapat (Should).” Nielsen data show that from November 2009 to January 2010, the “Dapat” ads were released 511 times in various TV networks, with a total value of more than P140.8 million.

Each ad had a particular focus: education, health, or employment. Each version opened with several people talking about what should be done and what should not be practiced concerning that issue. Toward its end, Teodoro himself talked about what should have been done concerning a particular issue.

Jabal points out that the “Dapat” series identified what should have been done by a government that Teodoro was part of. So why, he asks, wasn’t Teodoro able to do all that when he was still in government?

Elitist concept

Jabal has problems as well with a more recent Teodoro ad, which features the candidate about to fly a plane. Teodoro is a licensed pilot, and his team may have thought showing him flying an airplane would be a good way to communicate his take-charge skills and ability to lead the country.

Jabal, however, sees the concept as “elitist,” adding, “We wouldn’t be able to identify with an image of a candidate as pilot. Erap was very brilliant when he thought of being a jeepney driver – ‘sakay na sa jeep ni Erap (board Erap’s jeep)’.”

Political strategist Banayo agrees. He says he understands that Teodoro is talking of an “economic take-off,” but wonders if the candidate is talking over people’s heads, or about matters that are not of their immediate concern.

“(T)he problem there is 80 percent of the Filipino people are always worried about food on the table, being sick because we cannot afford… or giving their children a future through good education,” says Banayo. “So you’re not addressing them when you talk of things like an economic take-off in a macroeconomic sense.”

He also asks, “If you haven’t taken a plane, would you be able to appreciate this ‘take-off, take-off’ thing?”

It seems the Linson couple can’t. Asked to comment about this particular Teodoro ad, Imelda Linson says, “Eh wala naman kaming pambili ng tiket. Paano naman ‘yun? (But we don’t even have the money to buy a plane ticket. How would that be?)”

But husband Ronaldo wants to know what Teodoro was fussing over while sitting in the pilot’s seat in the ad: “Ano ba ‘yung  pinipindot-pindot niya doon (What was he switching on and off there)?”

More down to earth was the yellow ‘Bus ni Bro’ driven by Jesus Is Lord Church leader Eddie Villanueva in one of his ads. The commercial, which came out last December, also featured ordinary people – most of them young – from various sectors who danced while singing an upbeat tune. The song enumerated Villanueva’s plus points, with one line saying, “Sino ba ang may malasakit at pag-ibig sa bansa? Eddie ako. (Who cares and loves the country? I’m for Eddie.)”

The ad ran 204 times from December 2009 to January 2010 according to Nielsen, with a total value of more than P58 million. Jabal, however, says Villanueva’s commercials, including this one, lack asim or kick that would be potent enough to attract the attention of those who are not among his most devoted followers.

Too much history

Yet while being relative unknowns has become worrisome for the Teodoro, Aquino, and Villanueva camps, having too much of his history known to the public is not exactly working to the advantage of one of the presidential candidates.

Former President Estrada, after all, was ousted in 2001 under a cloud of corruption and plunder charges. He was convicted of plunder in 2007 and would have served a life sentence had not President Arroyo pardoned him.

Estrada comes from a well-off clan but played impoverished heroes in his popular action movies. He projects himself as a man of the masses. Last November, his camp released the “Erap Babalik Na (Erap Will Return)” ad that talked about how power used to be in the hands of the masses. Then, it said, the “unexpected happened,” and the words “injustice,” “poverty” and “hunger” were flashed. The ad wrapped up by saying Estrada would be back to claim what had been taken away from the Filipino people.

This particular ad ran for 87 times in November to December 2009. In Pulse Asia’s January 2010 survey, Estrada’s ratings went down to 12 percent from 19 percent the previous month.

Jabal describes what may have happened as a “boomerang effect.” “There are people who believe ‘Erap Babalik Na’ and their reaction would be ‘Yehey!’” he explains.  “But there are also people who say, ‘Naku po (Oh, no)!’ if the former president is going to be in office again.”

Mel Linson, who says she has not even seen any of Estrada’s ads, herself remarks, “Ay, tama na naman (Oh, enough)!” – With additional reporting by Ed Lingao and Che de los Reyes, PCIJ, February 2010

IF the law on campaign spending and political advertising were imposed before the official campaign period began last week, one presidential candidate would have already overspent in the past three months alone, even as he joins four others who would have exceeded the broadcast limit for TV.

Data from media monitoring agency Nielsen Media also reveal that from November 1, 2009 to January 31, 2010, or three months before the campaign period officially kicked off on February 9, the total advertising values for TV, radio, and print of just six of the 10 presidential candidates have already amounted to more than P2 billion.

About half of that figure represents the ad buys of Nacionalista Party standard bearer Senator Manuel ‘Manny’ Villar Jr., even though a presidential candidate’s maximum campaign expenditure limit comes up to only P500 million, or P10 per voter. His political party may, however, spend another P5 per voter or P250 million.

Villar’s TV ads also logged a total airtime of 758.5 minutes on GMA Channel 7, and 696 minutes on ABS-CBN Channel 2, during the same three months.

Four other presidential candidates racked up formidable totals for their respective TV ads on the two stations as well, most of them posting total airtime for their placements at both GMA and ABS in the three digits.

Bangon Pilipinas candidate Bro. Eduardo ‘Eddie’ Villanueva, who has equity interest in a third station, QTV 11 – a joint venture of his Zoe Broadcasting Network and GMA-7 – recorded an additional 221.5 minutes of ad buys on QTV 11.

Law: 120 mins max

Yet all these candidates are in the clear despite an express prohibition in the Omnibus Election Code on campaigning before the start of the official campaign period. Other election laws also put specific caps on a candidate’s expenditures, as well as on the amount of political advertising he or she places.

The Fair Election Practices Act (Republic Act No. 9006), for instance, allows each candidate a maximum airtime of only 120 minutes for TV ads, computed per station. But that is during the campaign period.

Politicians have managed to place as much political advertisements as they want before the campaign period because the amended Election Modernization Act also says one is considered a candidate only “at the start of the campaign period for which he filed his certificate of candidacy.”

Then just last November, the Supreme Court released a ruling that stated, “The effective date when partisan political acts become unlawful as to a candidate is when the campaign period starts. Before the start of the campaign period, the same partisan political acts are lawful.”

All these have apparently resulted in a pre-campaign period spending free-for-all among several candidates who are convinced that political ads can make or break their bid for public office.

Ad war, ground war

Indeed, ads have become such an important part of candidates’ campaign spending that these are now the biggest cost item for national candidates. Says political management expert Malou Tiquia of Publicus Asia: “A good ratio for spending on ads is 70 percent and 30 percent is ground war.”

It’s a tactic that has considerable basis. According to Dr. Ana Maria Tabunda, chief research fellow of the private research firm Pulse Asia, political ads “contributed a lot” to the results of previous elections.

Tabunda was part of a group that studied the impact of political ads in the 2004 and 2007 polls. One of the group’s findings, she says, was that the voters felt they needed the political ads. According to the young and first-time voters the group interviewed, political ads served as their source of information on candidates. The veteran voters, meanwhile, said they gauge the candidates’ sincerity through the ads.

Nielsen’s monitoring of advertising spots and values covers 19 TV channels (10 free and nine cable channels), 111 radio stations in 15 areas nationwide, and 54 national and provincial print media outfits.

“Ad values” are computed by Nielsen based on the published rate cards of the media outfits being monitored. In computing the ad values for TV, the agency also takes into account the programs where the ads are placed – i.e., whether the ads are aired during primetime (defined by Nielsen as 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm) or non-primetime – as the rates for these vary greatly as well.

Nielsen’s November 2009-January 2010 data show that 94 percent of political ad spending went to TV. Radio accounted for merely six percent and print less than one percent of the candidates’ ad buys.

Budget: P2M a day?

Veteran campaign strategist Lito Banayo says that candidates have come to rely heavily on TV advertising because 90 to 95 percent of households depend on it as their primary source information.

Nielsen data show primetime TV as the ad placement of choice for presidential candidates. Primetime programs have an audience share of anywhere between 25 to 35 percent, based on Nielsen surveys among Mega Manila households.

This means that an ad placed in any of the primetime programs of the major networks would be viewed by about two million to three million households.

Banayo and Tiquia both peg the cost of a 30-second primetime TV ad spot at P250,000, with discounts bundled in. According to Tiquia, a presidential candidate needs to have a minimum of eight ads a day in at least each of the major networks to be able to have name recall.

Banayo says four ads placed on primetime in each of the two top networks – or eight ads in all daily – would work just as well. But even then the amount of money involved is jaw-dropping. “That’s P2 million a day,” he says.

Of the 10 candidates for president, only four did not place advertisements on TV, radio, and print in the three months preceding the official campaign period: Senator Ana Consuelo ‘Jamby’ Madrigal (Independent), Nicanor ‘Nicky’ Perlas (Independent), John Carlos ‘JC’ de los Reyes (Ang Kapatiran), and Vetallano Acosta (Kilusang Bagong Lipunan).

‘Mega brand’ politicos

By contrast, top ad spender Villar even landed the 14^th spot among the top 20 advertisers during the 4^th quarter of 2009, based on a report by Nielsen.

The only political personality in the list, Villar was ranked alongside multinational consumer brands, telecommunications giants, and pharmaceutical companies that sell anything from toothpaste to shampoo, mobile phones to cough syrups.

ABS-CBN vice president and head of corporate communications Ramon Osorio, noting the frequency of Villar’s ads, remarks, “From ocular evaluation, that is almost equivalent to a mega brand.”

Nielsen client service director Eric Barrera says, however, that ad spending by companies typically dip by about 25 percent in the last quarter of the year. He says that Villar’s TV ad placements during the 4^th quarter of 2009 could just be “minutes not sold” to commercial advertisers.

“In fact, if you look at whole year (figure), he wouldn’t really make it to the top 20,” notes Barrera.

Far ahead of pack

Still, Villar’s total ad value of more than P1 billion in the three months preceding the official campaign period is 2.5 times greater than that of LAKAS-KAMPI-CMD bet and former defense secretary Gilbert ‘Gibo’ Teodoro, who posted a comparative figure of P407 million.

Liberal Party presidential candidate Senator Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino III meanwhile had a three-month ad value of P269 million, while Senator Richard ‘Dick’ Gordon of the Bagumbayan Party had P245-million worth of ad values. Trailing behind them were Villanueva, who had P90 million, and Puwersa ng Masang Pilipino standard bearer, former president Joseph ‘Erap’ Ejercito Estrada, who had P84 million.

Interestingly, Gordon, Teodoro, and Villar’s ad values for January are greater than their combined November-December numbers.

Lower than rate card

Network executives say, though, that actual advertising spending by candidates – particularly for TV — may be lower than the network’s published rate cards by as much as 40 to 50 percent. Says Osorio: “There’s such a thing as rate card and negotiated rate. If you’re a big client, you are given a negotiated rate card.”

The discounts given are determined in large part by the volume of ad placements. But Osorio says the discounting scheme is “highly flexible.” He adds, “If you liken it to commercial advertising placement, it could be anywhere from 30 to 40 percent discount.”

A 30-second ad spot on primetime costs P432,879, and P82,116 on non-primetime per ABS-CBN’s published rate card for 2009. A 40-percent discount would reduce those rates to around P260,000 for primetime and P49,000 for non-primetime.

Osorio clarifies, however, that he does not know if ABS-CBN gave the same discounting scheme to political candidates, pre-campaign period.

At rival GMA-7, regional TV sales vice president Riza Garduque says that her network does not give any volume discounts or package promotions to advocacy ads. Unlike commercial advertisers, she says, candidates have no historical volume of ad placements in the network and are thus not entitled to discounts and packages.

But while GMA’s published rate card is higher than that of ABS-CBN’s at P475,200 for a 30-second primetime ad spot (for 2009), the actual rates it charges clients are much lower.

‘Advocacy ads’

According to Butch Raquel, the network’s corporate communications vice president, GMA applies “agency rates” for advocacy ads pre-campaign period, just like for commercial ads. For primetime, agency rates go from P250,000 to P300,000 per 30 seconds, or about 47 percent and 37 percent lower than the published rate card, respectively.

Applying these discounts on candidates’ TV ad values would halve the total ad values. But the indicative real ad cost of six of the presidential candidates from November 2009 up to the end of last month would still be a hefty P1.1 billion, including P992 million for TV.

The indicative real ad cost of each of these six candidates would also be half of their total ad values. Villar’s indicative real ad cost would thus come up to just P550 million, including P475 million for TV.

This is below the estimated campaign expenditure limit of P750 million for a presidential candidate – that is, assuming that the candidate’s political party decided to spend its P5 limit per registered voter solely on him or her (and based on the Commission on Elections estimate of 50 million registered voters). Otherwise, a presidential candidate is allowed to spend only a maximum of P10 for every registered voter for the election campaign, or a total of P500 million.

GMA’s Garduque says that advocacy and political ads make up a mere five to six percent of annual network ad earnings. But she says that for the upcoming polls, judging from the pre-campaign period alone, the rise in her network’s earnings has been “substantial.”

Garduque also says that the volume of candidates’ ads is bigger in these elections than in previous ones — and that is merely for the pre-campaign period.

Impact & clutter

ABS-CBN’s Osorio likewise says there is a “wide margin of difference” from ABS-CBN’s earnings from political ads compared to non-election season.

“You could see its impact because there is clutter,” he says, referring to the high volume of political ads.

Osorio says the November to January ad frenzy put up by some candidates can be traced in large part to the fact that they were still unencumbered by expenditure and ad volume caps before the start of the campaign period.

But yet another reason is the rise in ad placement costs beginning February 9.

Representatives from both GMA and ABS-CBN say they will not be offering packages, agency rates, or discounted rates other than the Comelec-imposed discounts for political ads during official campaign period. The 30-percent discount for TV imposed by law is lower than the regular ones given by the networks.

Ad costs, however, obviously include more than media placements. Producing an ad could already run into millions of pesos.

According to Banayo, an ad shot on location with a good director would cost a candidate about P10 million.

Tiquia, for her part, says production cost could go as high as P15 million – and this excludes the fees for celebrity endorsers and the jingle. Still to be added to this figure is the ad agency fee, which is around 17 percent of the total production cost.

Above line, below line

The numbers from Nielsen, huge as they are, also merely reflect “above the line” advertisements or those that are aired during commercial breaks. Making up a significant chunk of candidates’ spending are “below the line” advertisements such as posters, billboards, and mobile ads.

Ronald Jabal, chief strategist and senior partner at the AD & R Strategic Communications, Training and Research, points out as well an emerging type of advertising among candidates: the so-called “branded content,” such as sponsored segments in noontime programs and appearances in entertainment programs and sitcoms.

Osorio says that the rate for this type of appearances is calculated based on the actual time that a candidate would like to be present in a particular program.

“It’s a negotiated amount,” he says. “It can have varying combinations. It’s an appearance in one show, together with x number of ads, regular ads. Or it can be being able to present a production number together with some ads. It doesn’t necessarily have to be just your appearance. It’s a package.”

The packages, says Osorio, are prepared and presented to the network by the candidates’ media agencies.

For GMA Network, Garduque says that a candidate’s appearance in an entertainment program would be computed based on the agency ad rate: “If it’s only for a minute, then it’s the agency rate per 30 seconds multiplied by two. If it’s for five minutes, it’s multiplied by 10.”

Osorio, however, says this mix of above-the-line and below-the-line TV ads may not be viable anymore now that the official campaign period has begun. He thus predicts a shift in the candidates’ strategy: “I think it’s going to be a straightaway spot placement. The rest are all going to be provincial sorties.” – With additional reports by Karol Ilagan and Ed Lingao, PCIJ, February 2010

The limits are easy to remember: a candidate for president, vice president and senator may spend at most P10 per voter, and his or her political party, an additional P5 per voter.

With about 50 million registered voters as base figure, this means that for those running for national positions, the spending limit is P500 million for the candidate, and P250 million for his or her political party. Combined, the maximum spending limit for national candidates is P750 million for the May 10, 2010 elections.

Each election year sees candidates go into a spending frenzy on campaign paraphernalia that range from flyers to fans, to T-shirts, umbrellas, and bags, as well as on advertisements that flood TV, radio and newspapers week after week. There are also all sorts of handlers, staff, and volunteers to look after, all the more ensuring that candidates need every centavo they can sweep for their campaign.

The popular perception is that running an election campaign has the potential of reducing a candidate to penury. Yet none of those who had served or today want to serve as president and vice president has come close to breaching the spending limit – or even to going shirtless and hungry – according to the separate “Statements of Electoral Contributions and Expenses” they had filed with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) over the last 12 years.

The PCIJ reviewed hundreds of pages of such statements that the candidates for president, vice president and senator had filed since 1998. Our findings reveal that thus far, most candidates for national office comply with the law perfunctorily, with their statements of election contributions and expenses shot full of holes and gaps.

Mostly secretive

Indeed, most candidates seem inclined to understate and deflate their expenses, hide or shield the full details of donations they received and the identities of the donors, and offer only a list of their expense items by general categories.

The most secretive are those who had run, and are running still, for the top rung of public office. They seemingly just filed the statements for filing’s sake, with little regard for the completeness and integrity of their reports.

One could count by the fingers those who did well and resorted to nearly full disclosure of details, notably Vice President Noli de Castro and Senators Benigno S. Aquino III, Joker Arroyo, Richard Gordon, Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Jose ‘Jinggoy’ Ejercito, Francis Pangilinan,  Jose Miguel Zubiri, Francis Escudero,  and defeated senatorial candidates Luis ‘Chavit’ Singson, John Osmena and Francisco Tatad.

Those who disclosed the donations they received but were stingy with details of their campaign expenditures include those who had captured the presidency – Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Joseph Estrada – as well as those who seek it now – Senators Manuel B. Villar Jr. and Ma. Consuelo ‘Jamby’ Madrigal, and Brother Eddie Villanueva.

Across party lines

Two current candidates for vice president, Senators Manuel Roxas II and Loren Legarda, were open about their donors’ identities but rather secretive about how they spent their campaign money.

From the statements they filed, it is apparent that minimal or token disclosure of campaign money that gets in and out is a pattern true for candidates across party lines.

Most candidates for senator in 2004 and 2007 of Arroyo’s coalition slate that now include some aspirants for re-election offered few details about their campaign expenses, raising more questions than answers: the victors Manuel ‘Lito’ Lapid, Ramon ‘Bong’ Revilla Jr., Pilar Juliana ‘Pia’ S. Cayetano, and Edgardo Angara, and the defeated Prospero Pichay Jr., Teresita Aquino Oreta, Ralph Recto, and Vicente Sotto III.

Likewise, some of those who ran and won for the Genuine Opposition slate gave little or scant details of their campaign expenses: Rodolfo Biazon, Alan Peter Cayetano, Antonio F. Trillanes IV, and Gregorio Honasan.

The law requires all candidates to submit their Statement of Electoral Contributions and Expenses within 30 days after election day; otherwise, the winners may not be allowed to take their oath of office. In a recent resolution, the Comelec en banc sought to put teeth to the law: win or lose, candidates who fail to file the statement for two consecutive elections will now be disqualified from running ever again.

Notarized, these statements have the weight of an affidavit or any other legal documents. In it, the candidate and his designated party or personal campaign treasurer, as well as his donors, sign and swear by the integrity of the data reported.

Paid media

One of the more forthright candidates, De Castro submitted to the Comelec in 2004 what looked like a bookkeeper’s journal of his campaign expenses by the day. The details so rich, he even disclosed the millions of pesos he paid certain “media representatives” apparently moonlighting as his PRs, some radio reporters and stations, two editors in one tabloid, reporters who attended his press conference, and a TV anchor in whose program he was invited as a guest.

Like De Castro, Osmena and Pangilinan made reference in their separate reports to big amounts given lump-sum to what public-relations experts call “media shepherds,” or reporters hired to serve as media handlers of the candidates.

In Pangilinan’s report, the names of several reporters were listed as having been paid from February to May 2007 from “Headquarters Payroll” twice a month almost.

In Osmena’s report, a media person was listed as having received “Professional Fee as Media Liaison/Campaign Staff” from March 6 to May 15 seven times worth P1.14 million in all.

In Singson’s report, huge sums were enrolled monthly to cover “Media Allowance” and “Payroll-Media Bureau” and issued in the names of two persons only. For the period May 1-15, 2007, for instance, P102,741.55 was paid out, and for one week in April, O177,812.

Aquino’s report to the Comelec is as detailed, but this time with numerous entries for “foods and groceries,” gasoline, freight charges, and P10.89 million in “unpaid obligations incurred” even after he had won. This included P4.8 million he owed GMA Network, P3.2 million the Associated Broadcast Management Corporation, and P2.8 million the LSA Printing Press Inc.

But the candor and diligence that a few candidates showed in their election spending reports are lacking in the case of Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo when they ran for president in 1998 and 2004, respectively.

Villar a puzzle

The wealthiest of the candidates now running for president, Manuel B. Villar Jr., is another interesting case worthy of scrutiny.

On his second run for a seat in the House of Representatives in 1998, Villar reported to the Comelec that he incurred campaign expenses of P550,000 only, and all paid out of his own personal funds.

In 2001, as an independent candidate for the Senate, he said he incurred total campaign expenses of only P38.56 million, again all paid out of his personal funds.

In 2007, he ran for reelection and nearly tripled his campaign spending. He reported it at P84.53 million, and said he used P62.53 million of his personal funds and P22 million in “contributions received from other persons.” The donated amount, he said, came from the following: Virgilio B. Villar, P10 million; Rowena S. Reclosado, P5 million; Michael G. Regino, P5 million; and Marcelino C. Mendoza, P2 million.

Of his P84.53-million campaign expenses in 2007, Villar said 85 percent or P72.52 million went to “media” expenses.

Regino is president of the Golden Haven Memorial Parks Inc. that is building columbariums in Cebu. The company is owned by the Villars.

Reclosado, meanwhile, is president of Althorp Holdings Inc. that has an 11-percent interest in Polar Properties Holdings Corp., which in turn has significant investments in Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc.

Mendoza is the current chairman of the board of Vista Land, a publicly listed company in which Villar and his family-owned real estate firms have controlling interest.

Villar’s son Manuel Paolo is treasurer and board director of Vista Land, together with brother Mark. Both sons are also stockholders “care of Vista” of Althorp Holdings.

Bigger net worth

Despite his claims that he spent his own money in the 2001 elections (P38.56 million) and again in 2007 (P62.53 million), Villar is nowhere close to sliding back to poverty. In fact, even as he spent his own money in the two elections, Villar’s net worth grew even fatter and bigger.

The December 2000 statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) Villar filed six months before election day listed his net worth at P330.01 million.

If he did spend P38 million of his own money for his election campaign, this did not reflect much in June 2001, when he reported  a net-worth slide by only P4 million to P326.85 million. Six months later, in December 2001, his net worth rose by 21 percent to P405.52 million.

In December 2006, Villar reported a net worth of P915.65 million. Even after spending P62 million of his own money for his reelection bid, in June 2007, Villar declared a net worth of P921.39 million; six months later, this surged further to P1.04 billion.

To be sure, Aquino’s net worth in 2007 also showed an increase. By comparison, however, this was a slight P652,845. From its June 2007 level of P13.28 million, his net worth rose to P13.94 million in December 2007.

Yet this is even as Aquino told the Comelec that for his Senate campaign that year, he spent P1.57 million of his personal funds, and received P66.56 million in “contributions from other sources” that included P20 million from movie star sister, Kristina Bernadette, P10 million from the late President Corazon C. Aquino, and smaller amounts from other sisters and relatives.

In 2004,when he ran for his third and last term as Tarlac congressman, Aquino’s net worth likewise increased slightly from P12.63 million in June, to P13.46 million in December.

Villar’s running mate, Senator Lorna Regina ‘Loren’ B. Legarda has filed election spending reports (2004 as candidate for vice president, and 2007 as candidate for senator) that are as distinct for their lack of details on how she spent donations she had received.

For instance, in 2004 as candidate for vice president of action king, the late Fernando Poe Jr., Legarda said she spent P64.88 million, and received donations worth P65 million. The funds went mostly to media expenses, P52.7 million, and campaign materials, P10.4 million.

In 2007, as candidate for senator under the Nationalist People’s Coalition party, Legarda said she spent P86.19 million, raised the same absolute amount of donations, and used the money mostly for media expenses, P76.46 million, and campaign materials, P6.09 million.

While Legarda submitted affidavits of her donors attesting to the amounts they each gave her relative and treasurer, Edgardo B. Legarda, she did not submit her schedule of expenses in both election years.

Congressmen donors

One interesting point: In 2004, Legarda said she received from Rep. Aurelio D. Gonzales Jr. of Pampanga P5 million in cash donation, in apparent breach of the law’s ban on government officials, employees, teachers and uniformed personnel donating to candidates.

In 2007, Panfilo Lacson received P200,000 in cash donation from then Rep. Rolex Suplico of Iloilo. In 2004, De Castro said he paid Rep. Exequiel Javier of Antique P100,000 in “honorarium” for reasons not disclosed.

Legarda and her closest rival for the vice presidency, Roxas, are like peas plucked from the same pod. Like her, Roxas was scant about details of his election expenses.

In his run for the House of Representatives for his home province of Capiz in 1998 and 2001, Roxas declared spending only P236,830 and P330,645, respectively. But when he splurged on his “Mr. Palengke” ads to get to the Senate in 2004, Roxas’s election expense bill shot up to P94.73 million.

This amount, he told the Comelec, included P52 million given by various donors led by his mother, Judy Roxas Araneta, who forked out P30 million. Other Araneta and Roxas kin chipped in as well.

Roxas, however, said he funded the balance of P42.73 million of his campaign expenses with his personal money.

And yet neither the small amounts he spent in 1995 and 1998 nor the P42.73 million he spent in 2004 – avowedly out of his own pocket – made a dent on Roxas’s net worth.

In December 1995, he reported a net worth of P26.27 million, grew this to P55.83 million by December 1998, raised it more to P76.82 million in December 2002, cut it by a third and closed December 2004 at P50.54 million. That means a net decline in his wealth by just a fraction of the P42.73 million he said he spent in the 2004 election. In time, Roxas recovered quickly; by December 2006 his net worth stood at P140.25 million.

Bets win, donors rule

But there is more context and subtext to the story of how and by whose money candidates bankroll their way to power. Two presidents had been there and done that, and if their election spending reports with the Comelec are a reference, the story moves on to how their campaign donors could have influenced them after victory.

Joseph Estrada won in 1998 with the largest margin of victory ever recorded for a presidential candidate. At his inaugural address on June 30, 1998, nearly all Filipinos broke in cheers and applause when he declared, “Walang kai-kaibigan, walang kama-kamag-anak… huwag ninyo akong subukan! (There are no friends, there are no relatives, don’t test me!)”

Little did people know that a week later, on July 9, 1998, he would file his election spending report with the Comelec and there enrolled the patrons of his presidency who he would mostly exempt from his bold, verbal edict against friends and kin.

To win the 1998 race, Estrada said he incurred total expenses of P118, 484,632.31 in all. Of this amount, he said he shelled out his own money (P2 million) and raised the huge balance of P116.4 million from various donors.

Positions, contracts

Interestingly enough, of the 60 individuals and seven organizations that he said donated to his presidential campaign, Estrada lost no time at all to award Cabinet portfolio, appointments to government corporations and financial institutions, and contracts and other favors to more than half during his 18-month reign in Malacanang.

Estrada named his biggest cash donors as Ramon Lee, Luis Coson, Elsie Chua, Jesus Fernando, Manuel Sta. Cruz, who all gave P4 million each; Luis Juan Virata, Alfredo Ching Jr., Dante Tan, Mariano Bondoc Jr., Harry Tan, Edgardo B. Espiritu, Rufo Colayco, Bienvenido Santos, Roberto Anonuevo, and George Go of Equitable Bank, who all gave P3 million each.

The other Estrada donors who gave from P500,000 to P2.5 million in cash were Ramon Ang of San Miguel Corporation, Henry Cojuangco, Enrique Razon Jr., Antonio A. Razon, Jose Ma. L. Razon,  Federico Pascual, Carlos Arellano, Antonio Abacan Jr., Jose Pardo, Ramon Cardenas, Jose P. Lotilla Jr., Benny Brizuela, Carmelo Santiago, Jack Ng Sr., Henry Go, Alfonso Yuchengco III, Cesar E. A. Virata, Elizabeth Virata, and Solomon Cua.

Of his P118.48-million expenses,  Estrada said he used P24.43 million for salaries, allowances, and talent fees; P27 million for “ricorida,” posters and streamers; P12 million for campaign materials; and only P1.03 million in advertising.

‘The Firm’ tops list

Gloria Arroyo, in her 2004 campaign for a full six-year mandate as president, reported spending P152,613,397.54.

This is apart from the P180,746,831.33 that Antonio T. Vilar, designated treasurer of her party, 4K or the Koalisyon ng Katapatan at Karanasan para sa Kaunlaran, spent during the same campaign.

Arroyo, for her part, splurged on “Airtime and Ads” – P101 million in all, or two-thirds of her total expense budget. She also used P15.26 million on campaign materials; P10.87 million on salaries, fees and allowances; P8.62 million on transportation; P4.45 million on representation expenses; and P3.28 million on census and survey services.

Of the combined P333.36 million donated to Arroyo’s candidacy and to the 4K coalition, at least 12 donors stand out for the huge cash sums they gave that altogether made up for two-thirds or P185 million of the 4K campaign kitty.

The list is topped by Pancho Villaraza, who gave P30 million in cash to get Arroyo elected. Villaraza is a co-founder of the Carpio Villaraza Cruz Law Firm, whose senior partners romped the beltway of Arroyo’s Malacanang and occupied Cabinet and senior government positions from 2001 to 2007. Another partner in the so-called ‘The Firm,’ Raoul R. Angangco, donated P8 million.

Other big-ticket donors of Arroyo are: Antonio Vilar, P40 million, including P10 million cash and P30 million on a loan secured from Metro Bank; Catalino Tan. Jose Perez and Jose Antonio,  who gave P20 million each; Alfredo Ramos,  Francisco Dizon, Pedro O. Tan, and Raymund Moreno, who gave P10 million each; and Benito Araneta, P7 million. – PCIJ, February 2010