The political advertisements of Nacionalista Party (NP) standard bearer Manuel Villar Jr. had been aired for a total of 8,730 minutes (6 days) for three months before the start of the official campaign period, exceeding the combined airtime of five other leading presidential candidates during the same period. This was according to data of AGB Nielsen Media Research which were presented Thursday by Pera at Pulitika (PaP), a consortium seeking to monitor election campaign financing. Television and radio ads of the 6 top presidential candidates were aired for a total of 15,479 minutes from Nov. 1, 2009, to Feb. 8, 2010. The official campaign period started on Feb. 9. If played continuously, all these ads will take nearly 11 days to watch and listen to, the AGB Nielsen Media Research said. Senator Benigno Aquino III, former president Joseph Estrada, former defense secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., Senator Richard Gordon, and evangelist Eddie Villanueva had a combined airtime of 6,747 minutes or over four days. Lawyer Roberto Cadiz, PaP consortium chairman, said the May 2010 polls is proving to be the most expensive elections. Citing historical data, Cadiz said most of the candidates spend 95% of their campaign funds on media. – ABS
