Who are the biggest ad spenders among the 2016 candidates?

The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) limits the amount that can be spent by a candidate for his/her campaign in order to give each one an equal opportunity to make themselves and their platforms known. This is to level the playing field for candidates who are less financially capable than his/her opponents.

Nielsen Media survey  released documents to The Standard that lists down in detail who among the candidates vying for various key positions in the government have the biggest expenses in terms of political ads. Nielsen based its survey on cost “in absolute figures” for national buys which calculates the total worth of airtime from February 9 (the official start of election period) to April 27, 2016.

In The Standard‘s first article, they named Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte as the biggest spender with a total of P408.67 million in political advertisements, followed by Senator Grace Poe with a total of P429.74 million, Vice President Jejomar Binay with a total of P375.61 million, Manuel Roxas II with a total of P358.39 million, and Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago with only P40 million in the presidential race.

In the second article, The Standard listed down Leni Robredo being the biggest spender with a total P406.82 million, followed by Senator Chiz Escudero, then Alan Peter Cayetano who spent P185.39 million, Senator Bongbong Marcos with a total of P45.64 million, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV with a total of P40.13 million, and Senator Gringo Honasan with a total of P21.83 million in the vice presidential race.

Republic Act 7166 or the Synchronized National and Local Elections Law sets spending caps for candidates and political parties with the following rules:

• P10 per voter for presidential and vice presidential candidates
• P3 per voter for other candidates who are members of a political party
• P5 per voter for independent candidates
• P5 per voter for political parties

In the Comelec Resolution No. 9629, overspending during the campaign period is one of the grounds for a candidate’s disqualification.