Politicians exploit election spending loophole

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LEGAL and political experts are calling for amendments to election laws to set a more realistic limit to campaign spending and give poor candidates a chance to run for public office.

Republic Act (R.A.) No. 7166 states that candidates for president and vice-president are allowed to spend P10.00 per voter. Other candidates can spend P3.00 per voter, political parties P5.00 and independent candidates P5.00.

Civil Law Dean Nilo Divina said political spending limits should reflect annual inflation since R.A.- 7166’s passage into law in 1991.

Divina said the national Commission on Elections (Comelec) should continue to set a limit to the amount of donations given to candidates. But the spending cap should be increased to a “reasonable level.” Otherwise, candidates who lack financial resources would be placed at a disadvantage.

“Premium may be unnecessarily placed on wealth rather than competence and willingness to serve,” he said in an email to the Varsitarian.

For the 2016 polls, the number of registered voters stood at 54.3 million, Comelec data showed. This translates to an expenditure limit of P543 million for each presidential candidate.

But candidates have long exploited a loophole—by placing ads before the official campaign period. A total of P7.75 billion worth of “social concern” television commercials were aired by media outfits from Jan. 1 last year to Jan. 31 this year, based on a report by Nielsen Media, an agency measuring media viewership. These ads are not covered by spending limits.

Emerging as the candidate with the most spending for campaign ads was Vice President Jejomar Binay of the United Nationalist Alliance, who shelled out P1.1 billion on pre-campaign television ads alone.

Sen. Grace Poe, an independent candidate, was second at P1 billion, followed by Liberal Party standard bearer Manuel “Mar” Roxas with P969.2 million.

Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, who ran under the banner of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan, placed fourth with P146.4 million.

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago was the only presidential candidate who did not air advertisements prior to the official campaign period mandated by the national Comelec, which began in February and ended just before the May 9 polls.

Jan Robert Go, assistant professor at the University of the Philippines-Diliman Political Science Department and managing editor of the Philippine Political Science Journal, warned that adjusting the limit of campaign expenses to a higher amount might increase the cost of elections.

“Elections should be an arena open for everyone. If a politician does not have enough money to keep up with other candidates, then winning would be a big challenge,” Go said in an interview.

Less expenses, more transparency

Dennis Coronacion, head of the UST political science department, said a national campaign costs almost a billion pesos.

“There is only one way to recover the expenses. That is through corruption [or] kick-backs,” Coronacion said in an interview.

He said regulations on campaign spending should be amended to limit the personal expenses of the candidates. Alternative fundraising events should be considered by politicians, he added.

Go proposed that the government subsidize a portion of campaign expenses through the Political Party Development Act or House Bill 6551.

The Political Party Development Act seeks to reform the financing of political campaigns, provide subsidies to and develop political parties, “promote party loyalty and discipline,” and encourage the electorate to be more active through voter-education programs conducted by political parties.

“This may be made possible by politicians because it would be really favorable on their side,” Go said. With reports from Kirsten M. Jamilla

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