On Feb. 1, the empty chairs at GMA's Senatorial Face-Off revealed a troubling truth about our democracy—those who spend the most say the least.
While senatorial candidates Imee Marcos and Camille Villar have each poured PHP 1 billion into premature campaign advertisements since January 2024, neither could muster the courage to face their fellow citizens in a two-hour town hall debate. Their conspicuous absence underscores a growing crisis in Philippine politics, where excessive campaign spending—now totaling PHP 4 billion before the official period—has become a substitute for genuine public discourse and accountability.
The boldness of these alleged "public servants" is truly exasperating. As we approach yet another election season, we discover ourselves submerged in a flood of political ads, each one more overwhelming than the previous.
The official campaign period begins on Feb. 12 for candidates running nationally, but these politicians have already inundated TV, radio, and online platforms with self-advertising material. This premature bombardment of political advertising is not just a violation of electoral norms, but a profound insult to the struggling Filipino working class.
The likes of Camille Villar and Imee Marcos have shamelessly poured billions into self-promotion, treating our democracy like their personal playground.
The billion-peso mockery
Let’s be clear—this is a lavish exhibition of wealth and arrogance. Villar and Marcos have both invested around Php 1 billion in media ads from Jan. to Sep. 2024. While millions of Filipinos struggle to put food on the table, these political dynasties are burning money on billboards and TV spots.
This isn't just premature campaigning-–it's a slap in the face to every hardworking Filipino. The official campaign period hasn't even begun, yet these politicians are already flooding our airwaves with their hollow promises and manufactured smiles.
In an interview with the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), Jean Encinas Franco, associate professor at the University of the Philippines’ Department of Political Science, pointedly critiques how candidates are focused on selling themselves to the people.
"It gives me a sense they are already using their own money. Candidates cannot use their own money. When you have a stake in elections pending, all the more, you will be corrupt," she emphasized.
The data is shocking. Take the Villar family as a prime example. Camille Villar spent Php 13 million on Facebook ads alone, while her mother, Cynthia Villar, spent P131.6 million from personal funds in 2013. Additionally, Mark Villar spent P131.8 million, entirely from personal funds.
Similarly, Imee Marcos has been systematically increasing her media presence, from 271 ad spots worth Php 21 million in January to 1,145 ad spots worth P303 million by Sep. 2024.
This isn't just campaign spending-–it's a vulgar display of political narcissism. While millions of Filipinos struggle with poverty, inadequate healthcare, and limited educational opportunities, these candidates are more concerned with saturating television commercials and digital advertisements with their carefully crafted images.
The systematic rot
Each peso used for these vanity campaigns is a peso taken from the people. It's a peso that might have paid for a child's schooling, offered medicine for the ill, or delivered food for a family's meal.
In a PCIJ interview, ex-COMELEC commissioner Luie Guia gave a sharp critique on how candidates ignore the calendar of activities during the elections.
"Candidates have recognized that they have to really project themselves earlier on as serious contenders. Unfortunately, that means spending so much money to have a more effective reach?” he cited.
The Villar family exemplifies this political dynasty syndrome. Camille Villar is the fourth in her family to seek a Senate seat, following her father Manny, mother Cynthia, and brother Mark—all of whom have demonstrated a pattern of using personal wealth to secure political positions.
This isn't democracy—it's an heirloom to a political seat in the legislative branch.
Cost of political vanity
While candidates like Camille Villar spend Php 13 million just on Facebook boosting and Imee Marcos floods media with Php 1 billion worth of ads, our schools lack basic resources, hospitals struggle with inadequate equipment, and workers continue to receive minimum wages that cannot sustain basic living standards.
The ease with which these candidates spend personal and family wealth reveals a fundamental flaw in our electoral system. It highlights how personality politics has replaced substantive policy discussions. Candidates are selling themselves like products, focusing on name recall rather than concrete plans for national development.
The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) has consistently struggled to properly oversee premature campaigning. The Supreme Court's reading of election laws essentially permits candidates to use limitless funds prior to the official campaign season, establishing a legal gap that favors the affluent and influential.
Out with the old
These politicians spend astronomical sums to convince voters of their worth, yet invest minimally in the actual infrastructure and support systems that could genuinely improve citizens' lives.
The 2025 pre-election spending represents more than just excessive advertising. It is a systemic betrayal of public trust, a vivid illustration of how Philippine politics has devolved into a spectacle of personal ambition rather than a genuine platform for public service.
To the working-class Filipinos watching this disgraceful spectacle, your demands matter more than these billionaire politicians' vanity projects. You deserve representatives who will invest in education, healthcare, fair wages, and social welfare - not those who see public service as a personal branding exercise.
To the Villars, Marcoses, and their political ilk, the deafening silence of your absence at GMA’s historic Tanong ng Bayan: The GMA Senatorial Face-Off 2025 speaks volumes. It is not merely a missed opportunity—it was a blatant evasion of accountability amid damning revelations of early expenditures in pre-campaigning that splurged across different political ads. Where were you when the nation demanded answers? Hiding behind glossy billboards and scripted TV spots, too cowering to face the public.
Their refusal to attend reeks of contempt for transparency. As Jessica Soho and a panel of veteran journalists grilled other candidates on corruption and policy, Marcos and Villar chose image control over integrity. This isn’t just arrogance—it’s a confession of guilt.
We are witnessing a political circus where candidates like Villar and Marcos treat elections as personal marketing campaigns, completely detached from the harsh realities faced by ordinary Filipinos. Their billion-peso advertisements cannot mask the fundamental disconnect between your lavish campaigns and the harsh realities faced by the Filipino working class.
As Feb. 12 approaches—the official start of the campaign period—we must demand more. We must reject this culture of political dynasties, excessive spending, and empty promises.
To the young voters, our vote is not a commodity to be purchased through flashy advertisements, but a sacred right to choose genuine public servants. The people demand substance, not spectacle. They seek representatives who will invest in their futures, not in self-serving propaganda.
This isn't just an election—it's a vote on our shared dignity. Each peso allocated to self-promoting ads is a peso taken from the mouths of starving children, from undercompensated workers, and from families in hardship striving to make ends meet.
These candidates who spent billions do not see us; they see potential votes, walking wallets to be manipulated and discarded. But we are not powerless. We are not mere spectators in this political theater.
Our power lies not in their billboards or television spots, but in our collective voice, our unwavering spirit, and our refusal to be silenced. We will not be bought. We will not be manipulated. We will not surrender our hopes to politicians who view public service as a personal investment portfolio.
To every candidate who believes they can purchase our future, your ads may buy airtime, but they’ll never buy our trust. We are watching—and we will not forget.
