Groups ask bets: Name 'friends and family' who paid your political ads

Poll watchdog groups on Monday asked candidates in the May elections to divulge the names of people who paid for their political advertisements.

The Legal Network for Truthful Elections (Lente) and Task force 2016 issued a joint statement urging the candidates to make public their financial sources for their campaigns.

“We are challenging all candidates to be transparent on their financial sources that fund their campaign,” said Integrated Bar of the Philippines national president and Lente national chairperson Rose Setias-Reyes.

The groups refused to accept the usual message that the political advertisements are "paid for by friends and family" of the candidates.

“It is not enough for the candidates to tell us that they got financial support from friends and family. We need to know who these friends and family are,” Reyes said.

The lawyer also said that candidates should not use the usual excuse that financial details of political advertisements aired before the campaign period are not covered by law.

“This measure of transparency would show us that these candidates are not hiding anything from us,” she added.

Section 14 of the Republic Act 7166 provides that all candidates are required to file their full, true, and itemized statement of all contributions and expenditures in connection with the election.

The campaign period for the national positions will start on February 9 while the campaign period for the local positions is scheduled on March 26.

Preliminary data from media research firm Nielsen Philippines showed that among the candidates gunning for the presidency in the May elections, Vice President Jejomar Binay has spent the most on television advertising at P595,712,579 in January to November 2015.

Binay was followed by fellow presidential hopefuls Senator Grace Poe who spent P448,165,555, former Interior Secretary Manuel "Mar" Roxas II at P424,869,740, and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo "Rody" Duterte at P115,423,468.

The Nielsen Advertising Information Service covers TV, radio, print and billboard advertising, and reports on where and when an ad was placed, providing an estimated advertising cost. —ALG, GMA News