FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC ) 
E a  ! 2 i2 ‘2 .’ ti 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
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First Regular Session 
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Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The Constitution, Article 11, Section 26 provides that, “the State shall guarantee 
equal access to opportunities for public service and prohibit political dynasties as may be 
defined by law.” However, data from recent elections would show that except for a few 
exceptional cases, access to opportunities for public service, especially in elective 
positions is never equal. 
More often than not, candidates have to spend millions of pesos in order to win in 
the elections. In the recent 2007 senatorial elections, with the exception of Sen. Trillanes, 
all the winning candidates had to spend at least ten million pesos for their campaign and 
the bulk of these amounts went to tv and radio ads. 
According to a July 2005 Asia Research Organization study, with its 95-percent 
reach among Filipino households, television has become the Filipinos’ most preferred 
source of news and information. However, previous laws imposed political ad bans in 
order to “level the playing field” between rich and poor candidates. The ban was lifted in 
2001 in an effort to give equal opportunities to the lesser-known candidates, allowing 
candidates to flood viewers’ screens with their political advertisements. 
In order to ensure that no candidate will get more exposure than others, the Fair 
Elections Act limited the number of hours that a candidate can air his ad. However, 
because a political ad costs a lot, not all candidates were able to even reach half of the 
maximum time allotted for their political ad. Conversely, rich candidates still got the 
better of poor candidates. The unequal access to airtime and ad space still existed because 
of the high price of political ads. Even though there is supposed to be equal air time that 
was available to all, the candidates’ resources were just not equal. 


Aside from the problem of unequal opportunities for political ads in tv and radio, 
there is also the issue of the content of these ads. Since these ads were aired within very 
short periods, they were not able to deliver crucial information such as platforms and 
track records and just featured candidates singing and dancing, along with catchy jingles 
and slogans and brightly colored backgrounds. In order for the public to make informed 
decisions on who they should vote for, the contents of these political ads must also be 
regulated. 
However, ads alone will not give the public a clear picture of the candidate, his 
qualifications and platform. There should be a televised debate for candidates in order for 
people to see and hear what the candidates have to offer. 
This bill aims to regulate TV and radio advertisements and its contents. It also 
aims to institutionalize political debates among candidates in order to have an informed 
electorate. 
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FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC ) 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
1 
PEO 12 :: .> :: 1; 
First Regular Session 
) 
Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
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AN ACT 
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Congress assembled: 
GIVING EQUAL ACCESS TO RADIO AND TV ADS FOR CANDIDATES DURING 
THE ELECTION PERIOD, SIMPLIFYING AND PROFESSIONALIZING POLITICAL 
ADVERTISEMENTS AND INSTITUTIONALIZING POLITICAL DEBATES TO 
PROPERLY W O R M  THE ELECTORATE DURING THE ELECTION PERIOD 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representative of the Philippines in 
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SECTION 1; Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the “Informed Electorate 
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Act of 2 0 0 8 . 4  
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SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is hereby declared the policy of the State 
to guarantee equal access to opportunities for public service by creating a well-informed 
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electorate. 
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SECTION 3. Comelec Sponsored Debates. - The COMELEC shall supervise and 
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sponsor at least three (3) national debates among presidential candidates, at least one (1) 
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national debate among vice presidential, senatorial and local government position 
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candidates. The debates among presidential candidates shall be scheduled on three (3) 
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different calendar days; the first debate shall be scheduled within the first and second 
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campaign period; and the third debate shall be scheduled within the tenth and eleventh 
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week of the campaign period. The COMELEC shall promulgate rules and regulations for 
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the holding of such debates. 
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SECTION 4. Maximum Airtime Per Candidate. - (A) Each bona fide candidate or 
registered political party for a nationally elective office shall be entitled to a national 
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aggregate of not more than one hundred twenty (120) minutes of television advertisement 
and one hundred eighty (180) minutes of radio advertisement whether by purchase or 
donation. 
(B) Each bona fide candidate or registered political party for a locally elective 
office shall be entitled to an aggregate of not more than sixty (60) minutes of television 
advertisement and ninety (90) minutes of radio advertisement whether by purchase or 
donation. 
SECTION 5. 
Contents of the Political Advertisement. 
- A political 
advertisement should contain the following: 
a) A picture, photo or video of the candidate; 
b) The full name and the nickname, stage or screen name of the candidate; 
c) The candidate’s academic background; 
d) The candidate’s professional profile; and 
e) ’ The candidate’s platform of government. 
Failure to include any of the required content is considered an election offense. 
SECTION 6. Comelec Sponsored Airtime. - In order to ensure that each candidate 
will receive equal opportunities for media exposure, each candidate should pay to the 
COMELEC the amount needed to buy political advertisements. It will be the COMELEC 
who will procure for the candidates paid airtime from at least three (3) national television 
networks and three (3) national radio networks, which shall also be allocated equally and 
impartially among all the candidates who paid the required amount. For this purpose, 
each national candidate should pay the COMELEC one-fifth of the maximum allowable 
expenditure for the elections. 
SECTION 7. lmplementing Rules and Regulations. - The Commission on 
Elections shall promulgate the Implementing Rules of this Act within sixty (60) days 
following its effectivity. 
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SECTION 8. Repealing Clause. - Any law, presidential decree or issuance, 
executive order, letter of instruction, administrative order, rule or regulation contrary to, 
or inconsistent 
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with the provisions of this Act is hereby repealed, modified or amended 
accordingly. 
SECTION 9. Separability Clause. - If any provision or part hereof is held invalid 
or unconstitutional, the remainder of the law or the provision not otherwise affected shall 
remain valid and subsisting. 
SECTION 10. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days 
after its publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
Approved. 
/jps012408 
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