SC stops political ad airtime caps

The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday ordered the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to lift new airtime limits on political advertisements for the 2013 midterm elections.The SC voted 9-6 Tuesday in favor of a status quo ante order stopping the implementation of Comelec Resolution 9615 and amendments stated on Resolution 9631.The decision allows the High Court to review petitions filed GMA Network, Inc. and ABC Corp. (TV5) and the Kapasinan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas (KBP), an industry body representing local broadcasters who criticized the "new" rules as too restrictive and may stifle revenues.Until this year, the Comelec computed a candidate's ad limits on a per-station basis, which means that each national candidate is allowed 120 minutes per TV station and 180 minutes per radio station.But Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes (pictured) pushed for reforms to prevent well-off candidates from flooding the airwaves with ads and be faithful to the Fair Elections Act.Through the resolutions, the poll body capped the TV airtime of candidates running for national positions to 120 minutes and 180 minutes on radio. Local candidates are also limited to a total of 60 minutes of TV commercial time and 90 minutes of radio advertisements to avoid flooding the airwaves.Butch Raquel, chief executive officer for Corporate Communications at GMA, said the network welcomed SC's decision to restore the old air time rules."We maintain that the cheapest and most effective way of informing the public about the qualifications of the candidates, and issues involving them during elections, is through the medium of radio and television."Citing a newspaper column by former Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban, he added that "a 30-second ad placed on Channel 7's 'Kapuso Mo Jessica Soho' could on the average reach 9,509,573 people. [Based on Nielsen Philippines data] Using the usual single ad rate of P419,265, the average cost per person would only be four centavos. Other programs are cheaper but reach fewer people."The decision opens the door for candidates to take advantage of unrestricted advertising on broadcast media. However, they only have 25 days to exploit it before the polls open on 13 May.Fed upWhile the status quo order is not the High Court's final decision, Brillantes questioned the timing of the order and said it put the Comelec and the senatorial candidates "in limbo.""The petitions were filed in February, when the campaign period for the senatorial candidates began. Why issue a TRO or SQA in April? Why did it take so long?" he told to reporters from the local press."Are we now going to keep quiet because of the staus quo ante order and therefore, there will be no regulation in so far as the advertisement period is concerned?"Disappointed with the SC decision, Brillantes threatened to leave to resign saying this is the fourth time that the Comelec received SC decisions that went against the poll body's reforms.Brillantes said he had asked the Comelec for permission for a two-day leave before talking to President Benigno Aquino III to discuss the matter.