By ARIES C. RUFO
abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak
A politician’s commercial ad or endorsement may not be premature campaigning as defined by election laws but they are certainly a form of partisan political activity.
The Supreme Court, on two occasions, has ruled that a commercial endorsement by politicians is not necessarily a form of premature campaigning, nor when they push personal advocacies in mass media.
Legally, they are off the hook, the High Court said.
But is it ethical?
Commercial endorsements that indirectly promote a politician outside of the election period may not be punishable under election laws but they are certainly unethical, said former Senate president Jovito Salonga.
In response to our query, Salonga referred us to RA 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, which he authored in 1991.
Sec. 4 (b) of RA 6713 defined professionalism that is expected from public officials. "Public officials and employees shall perform and discharge with the highest degree of excellence, professionalism, intelligence and skill. They shall enter public service with utmost devotion and dedication to duty. They shall endeavor to discourage wrong perception of their roles as dispensers or peddlers of undue patronage."
Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago has been critical of the product endorsements and institutional and advocacy ads of her colleagues, describing them as a form of premature campaigning. She recently urged the public not to vote for these politicians and for the poll commission to disqualify them for violating election laws.
more on the article from http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/06/19/08/commercial-ads-politicians-partisan-activity-not-premature-campaigning
-- If you get to watch television on a daily basis, for sure you are familiar of the politicians who have been using media to launch their political ambition early. We all know that television reaches wide audience and this is one step for them to gain public knowledge that they're running for the highest position in our country.
For me, It is so obvious that these are all premature campaigning. Yes, they may say that private companies ask them to endorse their product to increase sales and all those blah blah but don't you see how far these commercials bring them over their future political rivals(popularity and recall wise).
One more thing, can't they make something realistic for these commercials and infomercials they make. I hate scripted commercials/infomercials praising their presidential candidates for the good things they've done for the people.
Let's all be fair and vote wisely in 2010!
7 comments:
The Political Oligarchs strike again! Politics and the Philippines are sometimes just a sad sight. If only we had a better Political system wherein people ABIDE by ther PARTY and STICK TO IT.
These ads are just proofs that politicians stand alone and are a one-shot-deal. You vote for the person and not by their party and the values that their party embody. They commercialize and market themselves just like celebrities and actors do.
Is that how a politician should be? What happened to the values and principles they should supposedly embody?
I don't know how to react to this blog. Why? because I'm rooting for Manny Villar.But he has one of those commercials. So I'm thinking,had he been unethical? Hadn't he thought about the fact that commercials like such are no doubt some kind of a premature campaigning? OR is it possible that he thought there's really nothing wrong in appearing on t.v. and advertising certain advocacies/products before elections? are we overreacting now? hmmmmmmmm.
I agree with the Former Senate President Jovito Salonga. Cleary what some public officials are airing on TV are unethical. Let's face it they are obviously some sort of ad campaigns. I bet have the Philippines already knows who will be running for President in the 2010 Elections. I agree with the statement made by Senator Santiago. WE should not support these candidates who are using their money and other resources to gain unfair advantages against the other potential candidates. If as early as now they are already abusing their power and their money what more when they became elected as President. If advertisements on national television show the character of the candidate then for me the public officials are showing me their character of someone who is hungry for power and thus as early as now is already "campaigning" for assurance purposes. In addition what is sad about he situation is when I saw this advertisement about a public official whose name I wont mention since for sure if you watch local television you have come across his advertisement already (it being aired almost every 10 minutes) seems like in his advertisement instead of it rooting from some sort of good nature and act of benevolence is rather and act of exploitation and taking advantage of the situation. Let’s hope that the number being posted on TV, really is someone who will help this people.
I completely agree with you. It irritates me when I see Lauren Legarda’s commercial when I watch TV. And it’s always aired twice in a row. At least Manny Vilar’s commercial is rarely aired unlike Legarda’s commercial. Even Bayani Fernando does this kind of thing by placing his face on every MMDA sign and by joining celebrity duets. Even if I do want him to win, what he does is simply wrong. I agree with Miriam Defensor, these people should be disqualified. It’s unfair for the other candidates who are not doing this unethical thing.
But I guess this cannot be avoided since these candidates wanted to be recognized by the public, be known to the public and be voted by the public. Hence, they use commercials, game shows, etc just to gain this recognition.
I agree. It is not right to see politicians doing commercials, being covers of magazines or endorsing products seen in billboards especially when it is related in their profession and has nothing to do with the Filipino citizens. We all know that the Philippines has lots problems; the politicians should give focus to them and just give all theor time and effort unto it. For example, Chairman Bayani Fernando is part of Celebrity Duets and we all know that MMDA in EDSA is having problmes in terms of speed limit, so I think he should fix and do something with that first.
I agree with you!! every time I see a commercial by a politician that is running in the 2010 elections, I just get irritated because I know its just part of their scam. They just want people to hear their names and to hopefully remember them come election time.
I think they should wait for the alleged campaign period before all the publicities.
The way these politicians are using their money (most likely our money that they corrupted) to campaign early, makes us think that they can never do anything good with out expecting anything back.
I think what they are doing can’t really be avoided unless there would be a well-built and firm bill about this matter. They all have the dominance and wealth to do all these kinds of advertisements, and they see this as a means to catch the attention of the people, especially the masses, now that it is still yet that early on to promote. However, these politicians should not abuse the power that they have and should learn to instill in them that they are in the position to serve and aid the people.
Well, it is good to know that they are eager to reach out through advertisements, but we should think and analyze more profoundly if they have really good intentions about it, but I doubt if all of them are. Advertisements are merely a charm for them; it is the character and values, which are really significant. Hoping for better elections in 2010.
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