Philippines set to lift 13-year prohibition on political advertising

The Philippines has agreed to overturn a 13-year-old ban on political advertising, a move which is expected to benefit candidates in local to Senate elections scheduled for May 2001. Campaigns & Grey handled the pro-bono campaign, working with the Broadcast Association of the Philippines to overturn the ban, introduced in 1987 soon after "People Power" president Corazon Aquino came into power and vowed to level the playing field for election candidates. "What happened (with the ban) is that incumbents, celebrities, movie stars and sports jocks benefited because they have the exposure and profile to win elections," said the agency's group chairman Yolanda Villanueva-Ong. "Without political advertising, it was really difficult for anyone else to win. It didn't really level the playing field." In the last presidential elections, former movie star Joseph Estrada won by a wide margin, aided to a large extent by his long reel-life career of playing of tough, action heroes. Ms Villanueva-Ong said the ban had been lifted, but the bill was before a bicameral session, which will need to approve some changes, chiefly spending caps, agreed upon. "Hopefully, the ban will be lifted in time for the May 2001 elections, so we will have a better field of candidates to choose from." But, a delay is also expected since "events have overtaken us", Ms Villanueva-Ong said, referring to the gaming scandal that has engulfed President Estrada. One of the issues which will need to be finetuned is the spending caps for candidates, depending on positions being contested. For example, the proposal called for three pesos per voter, which would translate to 90 million pesos for a national seat. "Candidates complained that the ban actually made campaigning more expensive because they had to make more personal visits, but advertising offers a lower cost per thousand," said Ms Villanueva-Ong. While small in dollar terms, the large number of candidates that normally contest a seat - 12 candidates slugged it out in the 1998 presidential elections - the removal of the ban is expected to translate into a windfall for media properties, particularly the TV stations. However, Ms Villanueva-Ong said TV stations may be asked to treat political advertising as public service messages and offer discounted air time. Campaigns & Grey's next project is a campaign to teach voters about their rights and responsibility, which is planned for early 2001.

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