Gordon to gov't: Pay for presidential debates
to stop premature campaigning

Senator Richard J. Gordon (Ind.) today reiterated his proposal calling on the government to sponsor televised debates for presidential hopefuls to prevent politicians from prematurely spending for political ads.

Gordon said that many politicians who are planning to run for national posts in the May 2010 Elections are already gearing up through political ads disguised as infomercials.

"We have politicians spending P300 to 400 million for TV ads alone that are already clogging the airtimes though the campaign period has yet to start. We also have appointed officials suddenly coming out with infomercials," he said.

The senator noted that the Omnibus Election Code (OEC) prescribes a 90-day campaign period before Election Day for national candidates.. However, months before the filing of certificates of candidacy, political ads have already filled the tri-media.

Although the OEC defines "candidate" as a person seeking an elective public office who has filed a certificate of candidacy, Gordon said it would be an insult for the people to make them believe that infomercials of politicians are not part of their campaign strategy.

"These people are insulting our citizens. Do they really expect us to believe that their expenditures which amount to hundreds of millions just for TV is not campaigning?" he said.

"I am proposing a bill that the government will foot the expenditures for presidential candidates. But the bill will only be for a limited number of TV time, limited number of radio time, and the government must sponsor debates," he added.

Gordon explained that such system could even curb corruption.

"The government should allot money for ads and debates of presidential candidates so that they would be indebted only to the public. If presidential candidates do not have to spend for their campaign, then they would not have expenditures to recover," he stressed.

Earlier, Gordon has filed Senate Bill 2079, mandating major television and radio networks to sponsor at least three national debates among presidential candidates and at least one national debate among vice presidential candidates.

Under SB 2079, he proposed that each debate shall not be less than sixty minutes, exclusive of airtime for commercials and advertisements to help the Filipino electorate get to know each presidential candidate's qualifications and his stands on issues, among others.