A lot more people could have benefited had those candidates simply pooled their funds together and launched some kind of socio-civic project. They could have built classrooms, low-cost housing etc. It would have been better if they used the money to finance the education of hundreds or maybe even thousands of children. With hundreds of millions of pesos, I’m sure those politicians could have easily figured out some way to really do what they always promise to do but always forget to fulfill, that is to help poor people.

But of course, that’s all too idealistic. By default, a politician’s money always goes first to whatever endeavor there is that would potentially benefit him first and foremost. To the typical Pinoy politician, helping out others is only worthwhile if there’s a clear return of investment.

As I was watching that news report, I couldn’t help but sense some irony especially when the newscaster said something that sounded to me like a subtle criticism of political campaign spending. It just struck me as strange that this TV station would even come out with such a report when in fact it stands to gain big-time from all this. It’s a bit hypocritical, isn’t it?

Of course, there are other reasons why Pinoy-style political campaigns cost so much. One of these is the showbiz mindset. Since most Filipino voters are still stuck at being star-struck, the Pinoy politician naturally treats his campaign as if it was one big showbiz production.

So what do we get? Substance? You wish. Song and dance numbers? Yes, lots of it. Feet washing? Now, that’s new.

This is exactly the sort of thing I hate about Pinoy-style campaigning. It’s all form and no substance. Unfortunately, judging by the public’s response, we will see more of these asinine gimmicks. Hay naku.

Well, it’s all one big expensive joke.  I just hope no one’s laughing because ultimately it’s on all of us.

“The official campaign period hasn’t started yet so there’s no violation.”

That in a nutshell is how those personalities with running political-advertisements-disguised-as-public-service-ads  defend their early campaigning. While, technically correct it’s just a flimsy excuse as far as I’m concerned.

The funny thing is when it comes to their failure to give the public even just a sneak peek of their platforms these same personalities — or to be more accurate their supporters — would say something like this:

“We can’t come out with our platform at this time. We don’t want to violate the rule on early campaigning.”

As the comedian Joey de Leon would say, “Acheche!!!”

With that out of the way let’s now examine why these infomercials exist in the first place. What is their purpose anyway? The obvious answer those behind these infomercials will have us believe is that these are tools used to inform the public about projects and achievements.

Hmmm, let’s see. Government projects? I don’t really care to hear about government projects especially those that do not really provide any significant benefit to anyone. Achievements? I’d much prefer that I be the one to judge if this or that government agency really achieved anything.

I don’t know if anyone else feels the same way about government infomercials. As far as I’m concerned, they’re just a big waste of resources. At today’s hearing, the Senate Committee on Economic Affairs was able to get how much various government agencies have spent for these silly infomercials. I’m not sure about the accuracy of the figures I got from the news report I saw but here are the numbers:

• Department of Health                         – P32.4M (this year)
• Department of Education                  – P5.7M (this year)
• Pagcor                                                       – P82M (this year)
• MMDA                                                       – P5.8M (this year)
• Pag-Ibig Fund                                         – P172M (since 2007)

Now, is that any way to spend taxpayers money? There’s just no way spending that much for cheezy ads can be sufficiently justified.

There’s another side to this issue one that President Gloria Arroyo’s lawyer Attorney Romulo Macalintal so eloquently pointed out in response to a completely unrelated topic.  In defending Mrs. Arroyo against criticisms over the alleged extravagant dinners she and other officials had in the United States, the good lawyer criticized the media for raising the issue of morality while it continues to profit by accommodating political ads.

Just to be clear, I don’t agree with Macalintal’s diversionary tactic. But, just the same, I will pick up from his comment. First off, I pose this rather naive question. Isn’t media also a public service? When I was a whole lot younger, I often saw advertisements on TV followed by the line “A Public Service Announcement Of __________ And This Station.” I’m not sure if this is the case but I think public service ads back then were aired by media companies for free. What I’m driving at is that mainstream media should really consider providing free airtime or column space for truly legitimate public service ads from the government. Perhaps, they should also consider doing the same for political ads during the duly approved campaign period just to even up the playing field for poor yet deserving candidates. That would be real public service as far as I’m concerned.

Going back to today’s Senate committee hearing. Committee chair Senator Miriam Santiago has ordered the concerned government officials to refrain from airing or publishing their infomercials by the end of the month. For incentive, she threatened them with charges before that bastion of real public service, the Office of the Ombudsman.

Come to think of it. Why not charge them for indecent exposure, now?

In an Inquirer.net report, Binay is said to have welcomed the petition filed by partylist group Abakada Guro asking the Comelec to investigate the infomercials of perceived presidential aspirants.

Binay already has his excuse — that his TV ad is all about Makati and the benefits its residents are receiving.

I know I wasn’t born yesterday so I’ll just go ahead and call out what the good mayor is doing: “nagpapalusot.”

The same could be said of Senator Mar Roxas and Manny Villar should they also claim later on that their ads have nothing to do with the upcoming elections. Although, unlike Binay, Roxas and Villar will probably have a harder time defending their infomercials as anything other than campaign advertisements. But, who knows, Villar might claim he was just promoting duck-raising as an enterprise while Roxas might say — er. I can’t even think of a flimsy excuse for this one. I guess you’re on your own Mr. Roxas.

In any case, the general public need not hold their breath for a “palusutan” showdown anytime soon. No less than Comelec Chair Jose Melo has said that they cannot act on these ads. Apparently, the relevant laws and rules are cancelling out each other.

So, what’s a Comelec official to do? What else but pass the responsibility of determining if a violation had been committed to the voting public. What a disappointment. It would have been more interesting had he said “bahala na si Batman” (let Batman figure it out).

Levity aside, there’s a surrealistic quality to this whole situation that is worth examining. It’s like when you see a mound of shit and you call it as such because the fact of the matter is it really is a mound of shit. But then here comes someone challenging your belief, telling you it’s not shit but a tasty, delectable cupcake.

Now, I don’t know about you but I don’t plan on eating shit anytime in my near or distant future. I hate pastries as well.