Statement on the issue of product endorsements through TV Ads

My appearance in Safeguard's TV advertisement campaign called 'Laban sa Limang Banta' is a legitimate advocacy of public health, hygiene and safety.

I have been with the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) for over 30 years, starting from the time when I enlisted as a volunteer at the age of 17. I was also a brand manager of Procter and Gamble, the company behind Safeguard.

The intent and core message of the Safeguard advertising campaign was to teach the general public the benefits of proper hand washing and its importance in preventing the spread of communicable diseases. The TV advertisement, along with the PNRC's regular hand washing demonstrations all over the country, is particularly targetted at children who are more vulnerable to communicable diseases. The PNRC's work in the Los Banos, Laguna typhoid outbreak in March particularly underscored the relevance of the ad's message, where the simple act of proper hand washing could drastically cut down the spread of the disease.

We did not personally profit from the seven figure fee paid by Safeguard for our endorsement. You can check the records and it will show that every single peso of that fee was given to the Philippine National Red Cross.

For a number of days now, the issue of the propriety and legality of my appearance in the Safeguard commercial has been put under question. We are glad that our colleagues in the Philippine Senate have put moves underway that would shed light on the matter and settle the issue with finality.

Our track record and achievements as Mayor of Olongapo, as Chairman of Subic, as Tourism Secretary, as Senator, and as Chairman of the Philippine National Red Cross needs no advertisement. Then again, we are not discounting that there are those whose careers as public officials may benefit from TV advertisements sans the benefit of actual accomplishments.

We believe that only the merit of our work is the singular solid measure by which we must gain or lose support from our countrymen as a public official. We have been fortunate enough to have received an overwhelming sense of affirmation of having done a good job when we won in 2004 as Senator with the 5th largest number of votes. We find no need for publicity to do our job as Senator beyond that accorded to us by news organizations whose main role is to inform the public and maintain a critical eye on our actions in the Senate.