Roxas biggest ad spender earlier in the game

Before he slid down to VP race, the Liberal bet was ready to match Villar’s resources

MANILA, Philippines—To veterans in political circles, the 2010 presidential campaign started 3 years ago. In November 2007, in a huge event at the historic Club Filipino, Senator Manuel Roxas II assumed presidency of the Liberal Party (LP) and vowed to bring the party to victory in 2010.

Roxas’s presidential ambitions, like Manuel Villar Jr.’s, have been an open secret as far back as 2004. Until Benigno Aquino III entered the picture in August 2009, the country was gearing for a battle royal between the top campaign spenders of the 2001 (Villar) and 2004 (Roxas) senatorial elections.

In a shocking announcement in September—before crying supporters, also in Club Filipino—Roxas said he would just seek the vice presidency to give way to Aquino, his party mate who now wanted to be the Liberal standard bearer.

It was a big decision for Roxas, who had spent a lot on his preparations for the presidential campaign. On political advertising alone, he spent a total of P575.39 million on TV, radio, and print from January to August 2009, based on data from the media monitoring firm AGB Nielsen Media Research.

Roxas was prepared to match Villar’s advertising spending. The LP bet was even outspending his NP rival from January to April 2009, when Roxas spent a total of P268 million versus Villar’s P179 million.

It was old money versus new money. Roxas comes from the old-rich Araneta clan that owns vast tracts of land, more prominently the Araneta Center, a prime property in Cubao, Quezon City. Villar, on the other hand, became a billionaire through his real estate business.

By May 2009, however, Villar beat Roxas’s spending. In the 8-month period from January to August, Villar spent P790 million, which is P215 million more than Roxas’s spending.

The amounts are based on rate cards. The actual cost may be lower. Villar earlier claimed that he got a 66% discount on ad placements because he bought the spots early.

The pioneers

Villar and Roxas may be considered the pioneers of political advertising in the Philippines.

In the 2001 senatorial elections, Villar was the first politician to maximize political advertising. To the tune of Tom Jones’ “Sex Bomb,” a hit song at that time, he introduced his ST slogan (Sipag at Tiyaga, or industry and perseverance), relating those traits to his success in business and politics. He was also endorsed by popular sexy actress Rosanna Roces.

Villar’s ads were credited for his rise from No. 14 in the January 2004 surveys to No. 7 in the official election results. The political ad ban was only lifted in January 2001. Villar was among the few who were prepared to use the new campaign tool. (He won a re-election in 2007 elections, when he was the 3rd biggest spender.)

It was Roxas who pushed the limits of political advertising in the 2004 elections.

In January 2003, or 14 months before Election Day, Roxas introduced himself as “Mr. Palengke” in radio ads. In April 2003, he launched his TV ads, where the Wharton graduate sashayed to the popular tune of “Mr. Suave” by the band Parokya ni Edgar band.

Based on rate cards, then AC Nielsen data shows that Roxas spent P80.9 million in the pre-election year.

DTI ads

That amount, however, is questionable. The whole 2003, when he was launching several advertisements, Roxas was the secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry. He resigned only on December 10.

So like President Arroyo, who was a sitting president before the 2004 polls, Roxas could have also gotten a free ride on advertisements placed by his agency.

A Commission on Audit report shows that the DTI spent P26 million for ads in 2003. This amount is almost 10 times more than the agency’s advertising expenses the following year, P3 million in 2004, when Roxas had left the agency.

The amount of ads put out by DTI under Roxas in 2003 was equivalent to close to half (41%) of what 5 other government agencies and corporations combined spent on ads featuring President Arroyo that year (P63.16 million).

From January to May 2004, when Roxas was no longer with DTI, he spent P96.3 million on his campaign ads.

Roxas topped the 2004 elections with nearly 19 million votes, beating popular movie action star Ramon Bong Revilla Jr., who ranked 2nd. It was a big showing for a relatively unknown Cabinet secretary who ranked 22nd among senatorial hopefuls 8 months before elections. His ads were largely credited for his success.

The VP race

The presidential race was not encouraging for Roxas, however. Even as he battled Villar in the airwaves last year, he was trailing behind in the surveys.

The highest rating Roxas got in 2009 was 13% in May 2009. He ranked 5th among rumored candidates, although at 3% margin of error they were all statistically tied at the top spot.

The other candidates were Vice President Noli De Castro (18%), Senator Francis Escudero (17%), former President Joseph Estrada (15%), and Villar (14%).

But Roxas failed to boost his numbers. In the following survey, conducted from July to August 2008, he lost 2 points. Villar topped this survey with 25%.

When the idea of Benigno Aquino III’s candidacy was broached after President Aquino’s death, LP stalwarts were split. Eventually, Roxas himself offered to slide down.

"Ito na ang pinakamabigat na desisyon sa buhay ko. Maniwala man kayo o hindi, ginagawa ko ito para sa bayan, para sa inyo (This is the hardest decision I had to make in my life. Believe it or not, I did this for the country, for you). I do this for unity in support of change. And if that means that somebody must make the sacrifice, it must be me. Ako na," Roxas told supporters in Club Filipino.

It’s a different story now in the vice presidential race, where it’s become a battle between the top senators of the 2004 (Roxas) and 2007 (Legarda) elections. Both had also aspired for the presidency.

In the Pulse Asia surveys of January and February 2010, Roxas maintained double-digit leads over Legarda. He enjoyed a rating of 47% and 43%, respectively, versus Legarda’s 28% and 27%.

Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay is a far 3rd—13% and 15%, respectively—in the vice presidential race.

Roxas has cut down on spending since he slid down to the vice presidential race. From September to December 2009, he was outspent 4 times by Legarda. The latter spent P178 million versus Roxas’s P42.62 million.

From January to August 2009, Roxas’s monthly average spending on ads was P72 million. In Septembers, when he declared that he would only be seeking the vice presidency, he only spent P5.24 million on ads. In October, Roxas stopped placing ads altogether.

He resumed his spending in November, starting at a meager P1.37 million. In December, he spent P36 million. —with reports from Maria Althea Teves (Newsbreak)

Election 2010!

BIR may miss P1.2-B election tax take target
March 18, 2010 20:53:00
Ronnel Domingo
Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines--The Bureau of Internal Revenue expects to get some P100 million this month from the imposition of the 5-percent withholding tax on campaign expenses following the start of the campaign season in February.

But Revenue Commissioner Joel L. Tan-Torres said the target collection of P1.2 billion for the full-length of the election campaign might not be achieved due to shorter-than-assumed collection period.

Tan-Torres explained that when the program dubbed “Iboto Mo Kandidato, Nagbabayad ng Buwis na Wasto” was being planned last year, the BIR’s assumption was that collection would start in December 2009 when the filing of COCs was opened, instead of February 2010 when the campaign period started.

“We expect all (campaign) taxes to be fully remitted by June,” the BIR chief said. “Revenue officials will coordinate with the candidates to remind them that they have to pay taxes.”

Revenue Memorandum Order No. 35-2009 issued on Nov. 11, 2010 tasked revenue district offices to work with offices of the Commission on Election and issue BIR registration forms to all candidates during the filing of the certificates of candidacy from late November to early December.

The BIR will also work with the Comelec in relation to candidates’ and parties’ statements of campaign expenditures and contributions, which will be available by June 2010, for auditing purposes.

Tan-Torres said the 5-percent withholding tax was not a new tax and therefore, a new law was not needed to make it effective.

“The withholding tax is an advance payment of income tax and this system has been in place for the past 30 years,” he said.

What was new, Tan-Torres said, was the inclusion of transactions related to the purchase of goods and services for the election campaign.

“There is no additional cost for the candidate and the contributor does not pay tax on contributions,” he added.

Asked about the problem of collecting the tax when campaign funds are not reported anyway, Tan-Torres said the BIR would be satisfied to cover whatever amount was declared.

“But (the candidates) are assured that all information that we get will be very confidential and will not be available to rival parties,” he said.

“The law prohibits us from disclosing information related to taxes.”

Citing the Tax Code, he said parties who were remiss in their tax responsibilities were liable to pay a penalty equivalent to 25 percent of the unpaid tax plus a 20-percent yearly surcharge.

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