Just when Filipinos thought it was safe to turn on the TV or radio
again, the politicians go and legalise advertising for candidates in
May's election.
That means the airwaves won't be safe for a while longer because as
anyone who has been to the Philippines knows, politicians there take the
business of electioneering very seriously indeed.
But having only recently run an actor-womaniser-president out of office
on corruption and other charges, can Filipinos trust their politicians
again?
If media owners are a guide, we think the answer is a quick "no".
Apparently, media properties have a PBB directive - pay before broadcast
- for politicians.
"Shows how much we trust our candidates," a media director smirked.
Meanwhile, now that all has been said and done with People Power 2,
Campaigns & Grey dynamo Yolanda Villanueva-Ong is happily recounting the
company's role through its Campaigns Advocacy & Public Relations Inc's
(Capri) arm in the protests that drove Estrada out of office.
Capri donated its services freely, executing a series of daily spoofs on
two months of impeachment hearings against Estrada.
The politicians at the hearing provided plenty of fodder, simply by
being themselves.
And with Estrada's ad ban order on the Philippine Daily Inquirier, we
hear that Capri found a more than accommodating platform to ridicule
Estrada.
Need a new cabinet? Just call Dimensione, a chain of furniture stores in
the Philippines, which had this ad running soon after new Philippine
president Gloria Magapagal-Arroyo was sworn in last month. As the new
commander in chief deliberated on cabinet choices - always a prickly
affair in the Philippines - BBDO-Guerrero/Ortega happily picked up
plenty of mileage for its client.
