‘Lower poll advertisement rates to level playing field’

MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III is pushing for lower advertisement rates of media companies during the election period to level the playing field for candidates.

Pimentel filed Senate Bill 1777, which seeks to cut the rates of political advertisements during the election period by 50 percent for television; 30 percent for radio and 20 percent for print media.

According to Pimentel, the media entities have supposedly been “willing to lower rates for certain parties” so they should have no issue with his proposal “in the interest of democratizing public service.” 

“Article 2, Section 26 of our Constitution provides that the state shall guarantee equal access to opportunities for public service. In this day and age, an undeniable feature of running a successful election campaign involves media exposure. Unfortunately, many qualified but financially disadvantaged candidates are unable to compete in this regard because of prohibitive rates charged by media entities,” Pimentel said.

He said wealthier candidates or those who have financiers have the advantage over those who do not have deep pockets because of the high cost of campaigning. 

Pimentel said measures such as what he is proposing would allow more candidates to run and provide the electorate with more choices during the election.

“The reason we have campaign spending limits is due to the temptation for corruption generated by excessive expenses during a campaign. Some politicians think it entitles them to ‘recoup’ their ‘investment’ using public funds,” Pimentel said. 

“This proposal complements our campaign against political dynasties. Voters won’t have to put up with the same old tired faces if they have more options to choose from,” he added.