The campaign finance scandal in America is the global warming of American political life—with cash substituting for deadly solar radiation.
— Hollywood actor Alec Baldwin

MAYPAJO, Caloocan City — Senator Maria Imelda Josefa Remedios 'Imee' Marcos-Manotoc belied the allegation of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) that she has already spent ₱1 billion for her reelection bid in the upcoming 2025 midterm elections set on May 12.

If this is true, it's fascinating to realize that the Universal Social Pension, which has already been approved in the House of Representatives that would give a ₱1,000 monthly grant for all of the country’s elderly (those aged 60 and above), is still pending on her table. No action from her would mean the proposed measure's refiling in the next Congress—it would be back to zero in simple terms.

At an event in Barangay Labangon, Cebu City, the elder sister of President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Romualdez Marcos Jr. dismissed the accusation as baseless even as she stressed that she would rather spend the money on distributing food to help Filipinos than on political advertisements.

However, Marcos-Manotoc did not reveal how much she had spent since she began her campaign for reelection.

She questioned the basis of the reported campaign spending, pointing out that it would have been a waste of resources compared to addressing community needs.

Since her younger brother took the reins of government, the lady senator initiated the revival of the erstwhile popular NutriBun, the nutrient-enriched bread introduced in the 1970s during the presidency of her father, the late Ferdinand Edralin Marcos Sr., who designed the unique bun with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to combat malnutrition among impoverished Filipino children.

Going back to the allegations of senator Imee’s campaign spending, it was learned that the PCIJ report was based on data from Nielsen Ad Intel which stated that our president's sibling had spent ₱1 billion on ads across TV, radio and print from January to September 2024. It noted that in September alone, Manang Imee reportedly ran 1,145 TV ads worth ₱303 million.

The report likewise revealed that total spending for political ads before the October 2024 filing of certificates of candidacy exceeded ₱4 billion, with Marcos and Las Piñas Rep. Camille Villar leading the spending list.

It's a reality that personal and family wealth most often have an impact on election campaigns. This is why there is a so-called 'tariff' of sorts that dictates the amount of campaign money a candidates needs—depending on what position is running for, from barangay kagawad to as high as the presidency itself.

This prevailing trend reflects a widening gap in fairness among candidates, particularly favoring those with significant financial resources. This is also why our Commission on Elections (Comelec) need to impose measures that will guide and place a ceiling on to avoid excessive ad Expenditure. After all, growing reliance on early ads favor candidates who can afford substantial expenditures while putting others at a disadvantage.

However, if this is done, many of my colleagues in media might as well bid farewell to the windfall they experience every time there is an election—which happens at the most every other year in counting the barangay and midterm polls.

Data from Nielsen has pinpointed that 90 percent of campaign budgets goes to traditional media, primarily television and while spending on digital platforms like Facebook was noted, it remains difficult to track due to limited transparency.

This probably why American social activist and University of Illinois professor Robert McChesney said that "the number one lobby that opposes campaign finance reform in the United States is the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB)." Here in the Philippines, lobbyists against reforms would be the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP), Publishers Association of the Philippines Incorporated (PAPI), Philippine Press Institute (PPI) and even the National Press Club (NPC) and other media groups.

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