Top VP candidates mount
expensive air war, too

Aquino, Villar, Estrada use up
half of airtime on giant networks

Posted by: Jaemark Tordecilla | March 16, 2010 at 8:04 pm
Filed under: General

Our latest reports reveal that in the first month (February 9 to March 8, 2010) of the election campaign, the top three candidates for president have used up half of the television airtime limit set in law (120 minutes per station), and continue to spend millions of pesos on their war for votes on the air waves.

These reports by PCIJ senior researchers Karol M. Ilagan and Che delos Reyes were based on data from the media monitoring agency Nielsen Media, as well as on the broadcast logs, political advertising contracts and certificates of performance that all media agencies are required by law to submit to the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Nielsen Media indicate a relatively tempered ad-spending among the candidates, compared to the three months prior to the start of the campaign period.  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 for president who placed ads on TV, radio, and print.

But at the rate they are spending on political ads, Villar and two other candidates – Benigno S. Aquino III of the Liberal Party and Joseph Estrada of the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino – have only about 40 minutes of political ads left in the top two television networks, ABS-CBN 2 and GMA-7.

To validate the advertising values of these ads that Nielsen pegs on the published rate cards of, the PCIJ collated and analyzed the documents that media agencies have submitted within deadline  to the Comelec, according to law. Only ABC 5 network has complied fully, the top two TV networks partially, while the government TV stations and most radio stations have not complied at all.

The PCIJ produced these reports as part of our commitments to the Pera’t Pulitika (PAP) 2010 Consortium that is focusing on campaign finance issues and reforms. The PAP 2010 includes, apart from the PCIJ, the Consortium on Electoral Reforms (CER), Association of Schools of Public Administration in the Philippines (ASPAP), and the Lawyers’ League for Liberty (Libertas).

Poll preps “substantial”
but lack transparency

Posted by: Ed Lingao | March 16, 2010 at 3:36 pm
Filed under: General

A group of visiting international political observers has taken note of government’s “substantial” efforts to prepare for the coming May elections, but expressed concern over the lack of transparency, trust, and confidence over the electoral system.

The five-member delegation from the National Democratic Institute was in the country from March 6 to 13 to observe the political environment and review preparations for the coming automated elections.

In a statement released to the press, the delegation said it recognizes the enormity of the challenge of automating the coming elections. “It is clear that substantial efforts are being carried out by governmental agencies, political parties, and civil society to organize an election process that enjoys the confidence of the people of the Philippines,” the statement read.

But the delegation also raised some concerns over the lack of public confidence and trust towards government, and the general anxiety and uncertainty over the automation of the elections.

“Suspicions and lack of trust among the political competitors and toward authorities, combined with insufficient inclusiveness and transparency, have inhibited public confidence in the elections and generated anxiety about the automated election system,” the delegation said in its statement. “concerted efforts are required to increase transparency, build in needed safeguards, heighten security, and develop public trust in the process.”

The delegation also pressed the Commission on Elections to draw up and publicize a continuity plan for distribution to the political parties, candidates, and the general public. The continuity plan would take effect in the event of a systems breakdown that would result in the delay of the electoral process.

In addition, the group asked the Comelec to make data on campaign finance available to the public for closer scrutiny. The group noted that while the election code regulates campaign spending and requires candidates to report their expenditures, the Comelec has not created a working mechanism that would make this information available to the public.

The delegation included former US congressman Sam Gejdenson; Nora Owen, former Irish Minister for Justice, Equality, and Law Reform; Sue Wood, former President of the New Zealand National Party; Jamie Metzl, Executive Vice President of the Asia Society; and Thomas Barry, NDI Deputy Regional Director for Asia.

Covering automated elections,
uncovering campaign finance

Posted by: Ed Lingao | March 11, 2010 at 4:59 pm
Filed under: General

On March 6, the PCIJ concluded in Zamboanga City the last of 12 training seminars on Covering Automated Elections and Uncovering Campaign Finance for journalists, citizen bloggers and campus writers across the country.

The seminars, with support from the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), were aimed at improving reporting on the electoral process and issues such as the new automated system. The seminars are also aimed at drawing attention to campaign spending by political groups and candidates.

For three days, the participants from print, broadcast, and online media had a mix of activities. Discussions delved largely on election laws and the automated elections, campaign finance regulations, basic investigative reporting techniques, ethics in election reporting, appreciating and reporting surveys, and detecting political spins and propaganda.

Scenes from the Zamboanga training leg

The trainers were practitioners from their professional fields: PCIJ Executive Director Malou C. Mangahas, PCIJ Training Director Tita C. Valderama, former PCIJ Deputy Director Jaileen F. Jimeno, lawyers Luie Tito F. Guia and Siddharta S. Penaredondo III, and PR practitioners Reli German, Angelito T. Banayo, Malou L. Tiquia, and Ronald F. Jabal.

The participants — composed of publishers, editors, field reporters, and political bloggers — from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao gave encouraging reviews of the training course. They were particularly grateful for the opportunity to enhance their level of awareness and learning in covering the elections more effectively.

Prior to the concluding leg in Zamboanga, the PCIJ also held a training seminar on covering automated elections in Iloilo City from February 4-6 at the Sarabia Manor Hotel. The Iloilo training was held specifically for journalists from Eastern and Western Visayas.

At the conclusion of the seminars, the PCIJ asks journalist-participants to demonstrate the issues and concerns they have over covering the coming elections, and how they intend to resolve these issues. More than a chance for journalists to demonstrate creativity, this interactive part of the session is meant to make journalists realize and recognize some of the things they take for granted.

Iloilo Training Seminar

Journalists act out the issues they grapple with during elections

And for journalists in the Central Visayas area, the PCIJ conducted a similar training seminar-workshop in Tagbilaran, Bohol. The seminar was held from January 29-31 at the Metro Center Hotel in Tagbilaran City.

Bohol Training Seminar

Through a radio-play, journalists demonstrate the problems they face when covering local polls

Pols flood the airwaves with ads, but do their messages stick?

Posted by: Jaemark Tordecilla | February 17, 2010 at 8:09 pm
Filed under: General

Political ads, more than just pesos and cents, are at core about putting across credible messages and getting the votes.

This is the focus of Part 2 of our latest report on the political ads of the top six candidates for president that in the three months before official campaign period had flooded the airwaves.

This report by PCIJ senior researcher-writer Karol M. Ilagan reviews the content, message frames, impact on voters and value-for-money of these “political ads,” according to the trained eye of  campaign strategists and pollsters.

2010 Presidential Elections:
A billion-peso TV war

Posted by: Jaemark Tordecilla | February 17, 2010 at 12:07 am
Filed under: General

Our latest two-part report reveals that in the last three months before the election campaign period started, six of the 10 candidates for president had racked up advertising values on television, radio and print media worth a whopping P2.1 billion!

Minus the discounts and commissions that network executives and PRs say reach about 50 percent, the indicative ad spending by these six candidates alone would still amount to a staggering P991 million, from Nov. 1, 200 to Jan. 30, 2010.

Even more interesting, five of the six presidential candidates had by now exceeded the limit on TV airtime minutes, if these pre-campaign ads were measured against the Fair Election Practices Act or Republic act No. 9006.

Yet, of course, this virtual overspending and breach of airtime limits will, for now not put any of the candidates under penalty of the law. These “political ads” will, for now, be consigned as willful spending on “advocacy ads” by the candidates, because the campaign period officially began only last February 9.

As well, in a recent ruling, the Supreme Court stated that, “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.”

This story by Che De Los Reyes, PCIJ senior researcher-writer, reviewed the AGB Nielsen Media Research ad spending database.

Election expense reports:
Truth (not) well told

Posted by: Jaemark Tordecilla | February 15, 2010 at 10:10 pm
Filed under: 2010 Elections

Our latest report reveals the gaps and holes in the “Statement of Electoral Contributions and Expenses” that candidates for president, vice president and senator had filed since 1998.

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.

The PCIJ reviewed hundreds of pages of such statements that these candidates had filed with the Commission on Elections. Our findings reveal that so far most candidates for national office comply with the law perfunctorily. 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 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.

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 some of those who seek it now.