Top two bets piggyback on party-list (First of two parts)

THE horribly costly air war for the presidency has in recent weeks ceased being the exclusive domain of moneyed politicians and political parties.

The new players and big buyers of political advertisements on television are seven apparently cash-rich party-list groups accredited by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) as supposed representatives of the “marginalized” and presumably poor sectors of Philippine society.

Three of the seven groups are neophytes in the electoral arena. How they managed to raise funds to purchase TV ads is just the first mystery.

A second matter is the bigger mystery: Why do their ads invariably say nothing about their respective advocacies but focus only on extolling the image, message and virtues of the top two candidates for president—the Liberal Party’s Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino 3rd and the Nacionalista Party’s Manuel “Manny” Villar Jr.?

By all indications, this curious arrangement between these party-list groups and candidates is also a “creative” way of circumventing the airtime and spending limits prescribed in Republic Act 9006, or the Fair Election Practices Act.

Who is using who, that is not clear for now, however. These “marginalized” party-list groups have apparently fallen into the trap of big-money politics where, in order to win, a party or candidate must command name recall by burning loads of cash on air. Meanwhile, the top two candidates who have maxed out their airtime limits in the top networks have been afforded a chance to ride piggyback on the unused airtime limits of these party-list groups.

Seven other party-list groups have aired TV ads that feature their respective advocacies and make no reference to presidential candidates.

Unwitting hosts

As of two days ago, or April 27, four party-list groups have aired TV ads that invariably extol Villar. These are the AAPS or Association of Administrators, Professionals, and Seniors (formerly known as the Association of Retired Teachers or ART according to the group’s website), AGHAM or Alyansa ng mga Grupong Haligi ng Agham at Teknolohiya Para sa Mamamayan, Inc., Butil and earlier, Akap Bata.

Three other party-list groups have aired ads that invariably project candidate Aquino (Akbayan) or his two prominent endorsers, independent Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero (An Waray) and re-electionist governor of Batangas, actress Vilma Santos Recto (AGAP or Agricultural Sector Alliance of the Philippines).

Akap Bata, was the first to air ads that mimicked Villar’s “Dagat ng Basura” ads. After a Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism report exposed the curious arrangement, on March 11 Akap Bata cancelled the balance of its ads—already paid for—and ordered the top networks to stop airing the same.

A group that claims to represent marginalized children, Akap Bata, started hitting the airwaves with ads that are a virtual rehash of Villar’s Dagat” ads, which had been airing since December 2009.

Contracts cancelled

Reports submitted by ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp. to Comelec showed that as of March 9, Akap Bata had signed three separate advertising contracts with the network for 107 spots of 30-second ads that should have run from March 5 to 27 on Channel 2. Akap Bata paid up front a total of P23.94 million for the three contracts.

Following media inquiries into the group’s possible ties with Villar, the ads of Akap Bata suddenly stopped airing after March 11. In a memorandum dated March 11 to GMA 7 Network—where Akap Bata’s ads had also been airing—Akap Bata’s media agency ordered the network to “hold all spots of Akap Bata Party List” effective immediately.

Its interrupted foray into TV ads, notwithstanding, Akap Bata had by then aired quite a volume of ads on ABS-CBN 2, GMA 7, QTV 11, and TV5 from February 26 to March 11. Altogether, the group’s ad buys had run a total indicative cost of P24.3 million, according to Nielsen Media.

(The PCIJ computes the indicative ad cost by applying a 30-percent discount on the published rate cards of TV networks—as required by the Fair Election Practices Act—and an additional 15-percent discount to approximate the average increase in TV advertising rates starting March 1, 2010).

Asked to explain the Akap Bata fiasco in early March, first nominee Dr. Joy Alcantara told reporters that it was a simple case of a party-list group riding piggyback on the popularity of a presidential candidate. Election lawyers, however, saw the arrangement in reverse—the candidate riding piggyback on the airtime credits of the party-list group.

Lost lesson

But the lesson of Akap Bata seems totally lost on other party-list groups that are now also serving as the hosts, wittingly or unwittingly, of ads extolling the top two candidates for president.

As of April 27, the names of six other party-list groups have been appearing in the end tags of political advertisements featuring Villar and Aquino.

Following Akap Bata’s lead is the party-list group AAPS. AAPS’s ads, if not for the last frame showing the group’s name, seem to have come straight out of Villar’s production house.

The group’s declared advocacy is the promotion of the welfare of retired educators and professionals but its ads feature Villar talking about poverty and comparing the Philippines with its more developed neighbors Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. The group’s name appears only on the last frame with this tagline: “Manny Villar at AAPS Party List, Karanasan, Kakayahan, Kontra Kahirapan.” –CHE DE LOS REYES Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism

(To be continued)