Presidential bet risks disqualification after exceeding airtime limit

Don't look now, but a presidential candidate with substantial television advertisements may end up being disqualified. That is, if the government's poll body will be able to strictly implement Republic Act 9006 or the Fair Election Act, which imposes limits on allowed TV airtime for campaign ads. The Commission on Elections (Comelec) disclosed on Wednesday one presidential bet has already exceeded the 120-minute TV airtime limit allowed for candidates for the country's highest position. However, the commission refused to divulge the candidate’s name, saying it has received just one report to date. "Isa pa lang ito. Hindi naman ako makapaniwala na isa pa lang. Baka naman kapag ipinakita ko sa inyo, ang sasabihin nila, may pinapaburan tayo o mayroon tayong idinidiin," director Ferdinand Rafanan of the commission's law department said in a 24 Oras newscast. (We have received just one report. I wouldn't want to believe that only one candidate has exceeded the limit. If I show you the report, we may be accused of favoring some candidates and treating another unjustly.)
The Comelec will lodge a motu proprio complaint against the candidate before the Comelec en banc, which will then decide whether or not to bring the complaint to a court hearing, Rafanan said. "Kakasuhan na namin. Andiyan na eh. (The report is already here so we'll have to file a complaint.) How could I close my eyes to this?" he added. Political advertisement of candidates for president, vice president, and senator are allowed only 120 minutes of airtime per TV station and 90 minutes per radio station. This is apart from another 120 minutes allowed for each political party for TV advertisements. Some candidates have found a way to circumvent the restriction by appearing in advertisements with the other candidates of their parties. According to the Comelec, this is not automatically counted against the individual presidential candidate's limit. "Isang requirement ng batas, i-indicate nila sa kanilang political advertisement kung para kanino, maliban dun sa i-indicate nila kung sino ang nagbayad," according to Rafanan. (One requirement of the law is for the candidates to indicate for whom the advertisement was, apart from indicating who paid for it.) In a recent report by Pera't Pulitika (Money and Politics), a coalition monitoring campaign financing, Nacionalista Party standard bearer Sen. Manny Villar Jr. leads the pack after already using 102.75 minutes for ads on GMA 7 and 100 on ABS-CBN. Liberal Party's Sen. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III comes in at second with 88 minutes on GMA and 95.5 minutes on ABS-CBN. Former President Joseph Estrada of Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino has used 65 minutes on GMA and 77.5 on ABS-CBN, while Bagumbayan's Sen. Richard Gordon has 43 minutes on GMA and 52 minutes on ABS-CBN. All these after a little over a month since the two-month campaign period officially started on February 9. All in all, national candidates have breached the P400-million-mark for ad spending on TV. The Comelec thus reminded candidates to strictly follow elections rules, as violations may result in their disqualification from the race. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV