Like just about everyone else, I’ve been following the developments in the case of that broadcasting giant very closely. Considering public pronouncements made by the main players in this unfolding saga, I knew it was just a matter of time before the conversation meandered its way into my neck of the woods. And, sure enough, last Monday, it did.
Are negative campaign ads allowed by law?
Yes, they are. Under election laws and regulations, the term “election campaign” refers to an act designed to promote the election or defeat of a particular candidate or candidates to a public office. “Political advertisement” or “election propaganda,” on the other hand, refers to “any matter broadcasted, published, printed, displayed or exhibited, in any medium…to promote or oppose, directly or indirectly, the election” of a candidate. In other words, election propaganda—and this necessarily includes political advertisements aired on television during campaign season—can be either positive, i.e., it boosts a candidate’s chances of winning; or negative, i.e., designed to discourage people from voting for a candidate.
It is important to remember that the regulation exercised by the Commission on Elections over political advertisements, or campaign ads, is limited to two aspects only: how often the ads are aired, and how much money is spent on producing and airing them. Apart from the general exhortation for campaigns to observe the principle of “truth in advertising,” the Comelec does not regulate the content of campaign ads.
How much are presidential candidates allowed to spend for their campaigns?
Election laws are very specific on the matter of authorized expenses of candidates and parties: The aggregate amount that a candidate or party may spend for an election campaign shall be as follows: for presidential and vice presidential candidates, P10 for every registered voter in the country, including those voting abroad via the overseas voting system. Political parties, on the other hand, may spend P5 for every voter in the constituency where it has an official candidate—in a presidential and vice presidential elections, that effectively means all registered voters.
Putting that into context: in 2016, we had 54,363,844 registered voters going into the elections. This means that presidential candidates in 2016 were allowed to spend P543,638,440. It’s important to note that this spending cap applies to the candidates’ total expenses, and not just expenses for television advertisements.
May candidates spend all of their money on television advertisements?
When it comes to televised campaign advertisements—referred to in the law as “broadcast election propaganda”—candidates are allowed not more than a total of 120 minutes of television advertising, on a per originating station basis, whether appearing on national, regional, or local, free or cable television. For radio, the maximum is 180 minutes.
This means that two caps are in effect to rein in a presidential candidate’s use of broadcast election propaganda: first, there’s the P10 per voter spending cap. Obviously, if the candidate overshoots that limit, he/she would be guilty of the election offense of overspending. And yes, a high-ranking official has already been sacked precisely for that offense.
The second limitation is the cap on how much airtime a candidate can actually use, i.e., a maximum of 120 minutes per station for television; and a maximum of 180 minutes per station on radio. Considering how many stations there are, we’ve yet to see any candidate violate this particular limitation during the campaign period.