Comelec eyes 3 options to deal with combined ads

(Updated 11:16 p.m.) The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday said that it is considering three options on how it can regulate political advertisements that promote more than one candidate running in the May polls, since its rules have clear-cut limits only on the airtime of individual candidates and political parties. Resolution 8758, which contains the rules and regulations implementing the Fair Election Practices Act, restricts a national candidate to only 120 minutes of broadcast ads on each local and cable television channel and 180 minutes on each radio station for the whole campaign period. A local candidate, on the other hand, will only be allowed 60 minutes of ads on television and 90 minutes on radio. Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal admitted however that the poll body did not anticipate the proliferation of ads that promote the candidacy of more than one candidate. "I believe the assumption [is] it's per candidate but now what's happening is several candidates appear in one ad," he said in an interview with reporters. To resolve the ambiguity, Larrazabal said that the poll body is thinking of three options. One option, he said, is to count the exact exposure time of a candidate in each combined advertisement. Another is to equally divide the total airtime incurred by the ad, while the third option is to charge to the political party all the airtime incurred by its candidates, Larrazabal explained. The poll body official said that he will meet with other officials on Friday to discuss the matter further. But he added that if it were up to him, he would prefer to just divide the total time of the ads among all the candidates who appeared on it. "For me, equal na lang, kung i-divide mo mas madali para sa lahat (If you ask me, we should just divide it so that it will be easier for all of us)," he said. Larrazabal said that Comelec will first have to wait for the broadcast networks to report on the airtime bought by candidates. He noted, however, that the reports will be submitted only by June 30, when all the election winners shall have been proclaimed. According to the group Pera’t Pulitika (Money and Politics), presidential candidates Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. (Nacionalista Party), former President Joseph Estrada (Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino) and Sen. Benigno Aquino III (Liberal Party) have used more than half of the 120 minutes allowed for television airtime. (See: Villar has most TV airtime so far - poll watchdog) The period monitored was from February 9 to March 9. In another study by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, the campaign expenditures for TV, radio and print of just six of the ten presidential candidates have already amounted to more than P2 billion. (See: Over P2B worth of pol ads before campaign period) This was from November 1, 2009 to January 1, 2010, or over three months before the campaign period officially started on February 9. For the vice presidential race, campaign spending for TV, radio and print has likewise reached P561.5 million for just four candidates, or P294.4 million after discounts of as much as 47 percent. (See: It’s a costly air war as VP bets splurge too on radio-TV ads) The campaign period will run from February 9 to May 8 for national candidates and March 26 to May 8 for local candidates. Despite this, Larrazabal said that those found to have violated the campaign rules will still be punished accordingly. Candidates should still follow the law even though no one has been punished yet for overspending on their campaign ads, he added. Violation of the campaign rules may constitute an election offense, which is punishable by one to six years imprisonment, disenfranchisement, and disqualification from holding public office. —Kimberly Jane T. Tan/JV, GMANews.TV