I know I'm being a tad dramatic but I feel like Manny Villar is stalking me these days... his campaign ads are just everywhere, there's just no getting away from his orangey mug, it seems. When I open Yahoo! messenger, Facebook and even when I'm just reading my friends' blogs he's inevitably there. I don't begrudge Manny Villar's financial success (he worked hard for it) that makes it possible for him to have a campaign war chest in the billions (he's spent P543-M on ads so far), but this is getting ridiculous.
Facebook...
Villar's campaign spending looks like it's working for him--recent polls attest to this. I have anecdotal evidence too... when we visited a tribal settlement in Bicol, kids are singing the campaign jingle from his TV ad and several tribe members we talked to there would vote for Villar because "si Villar ang tunay na mahirap" directly quoting from it. The song might be cheesy but it's undeniably catchy, even my nephew and nieces love it.
on my friends' blogs?!!!
I don't watch much TV, so I have largely avoided the brunt of this campaign season's ad blitz from politicians running for something or other, but I log onto the internet everyday and I tell you Manny Villar's ads are creeping me out. I like the guy, but I couldn't help but think that if he's spending this much money to get elected president--if he wins, wouldn't he try to recoup his "investment" from us? He's a businessman after all...
Based on published rate cards, Villar’s ads cost a total of P1.2 billion in 3 months. It’s almost equal to the combined spending of P1.3 billion by 5 other leading presidential candidates.
