Re-electionists, returning senators, Cabinet secretaries and other potential senatorial candidates have ramped up spending on Facebook less than three months before the filing of certificates of candidacy in October for the May 2025 midterm elections, by which time the Commission on Elections said the ban on premature campaigning will take effect. 

Agri party-list Rep. Wilbert Lee is the biggest spender on the social media platform. He spent more than P2.5 million over the last three months to boost his posts on Facebook.

Lee is a first term member of the House of Representatives and is eligible for re-election in the legislative chamber, but his name also appeared in the June 2024 Pulse Asia survey on the 2025 senatorial election.

Former Sen. Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV has spent more than P1 million. He ranked 24th to 32nd in the Pulse Asia survey on senatorial preferences in June, spent from P10,000 to P15,000 to boost eight FB posts that had less than 1 million audience size and impressions from over 900,000 to 1 million.

His posts featured showbiz personalities Dingdong Dantes and Bea Binene.  

Re-electionist Sen. Christopher Lawrence Go spent P357,351.

Go, who ranked fifth to eighth in the same Pulse survey, was previously the biggest spender but he appeared to have boosted fewer ads on the social media platform. Another re-electionist, Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr., also spent P126,369. 

Cabinet Secretaries Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and Benhur Abalos recorded ad spending in the past three months, too. The Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro spent P154,770 while the Local Government Secretary spent P117,223.

Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco also spent a little over P10,000 to boost her posts.

The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) tracked the spending of potential senatorial candidates on Facebook from April 20 to July 18 through the Facebook Ad Library. It’s the latest available data as of July 21. The names in the June 2024 Pulse Asia survey were included in the PCIJ research.

Also among the early spenders were lawyer Chel Diokno ( P117,161) and SAGIP Rep. Rodante Marcoleta (P114,038).

Presidential sister Sen. Imee Marcos also started boosting posts on the social media platform although she has spent less than P60,685 so far.

Senators Francis Tolentino and Lito Lapid also have started boosting posts, as well as former former Sen. Kiko Pangilinan and Kat Pimentel, the wife of outgoing Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III.

Aquino, Diokno and Pangilinan are members of the opposition. They are the initial candidates of the Liberal Party, according to its spokesperson, former Sen. Leila de Lima.  

Aquino left the Liberal Party to join Diokno at the Katipunan ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KANP) in May this year. He was eventually named chair of the young political party in preparation for next year’s midterms.

Both Aquino and Diokno were part of the “Otso Diretso” senatorial slate that lost in the 2019 midterms. Pangilinan lost in the vice presidential race in 2022. 

Go had long been a close aide of former President Rodrigo Duterte, whose daughter Vice President Sara Duterte had broken political ties with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Both Marcos and the younger Duterte won in 2022 under the UniTeam party. 

Most of the other top spenders are identified with the administration. 

Facebook content from paid influencers isn’t included in the Ad Library. — PCIJ.org

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