Only P10-million campaign budget for 'Ang Kapatiran'

MANILA, Philippines - While other candidates are spending billions of pesos for their political ads and other campaign expenses, the Ang Kapatiran Party only has a P10-million budget for their nationwide political campaign.

“That is our overall budget in cash and in kind… a campaign kitty we use in the national election,” Ang Kapatiran standard-bearer JC de los Reyes told The STAR last Thursday.

De los Reyes said they have already visited at least 40 provinces and intend to visit more key areas in the country to explain their platform of government.

“We talk directly to the people and we are getting positive response,” he said.

De los Reyes, in an interview with ANC cable channel host Pia Hontiveros, said that since they cannot afford to pay for political advertisements, they would just go directly to the people to present their new brand of politics, which is pro-God and pro-people.

De los Reyes said they plan to campaign in public markets instead of holding political rallies.

He also expressed reservations about participating in presidential debates, which he said are actually a sabong (cockfight) among candidates, referring to a vice-presidential debate where bets engaged in mudslinging instead of discussing their platform of government.

Ang Kapatiran declares war vs ABS-CBN

Ang Kapatiran also virtually declared war against ABS-CBN when it announced yesterday that it would file election offense and boycott the giant network from covering its political activities.

Eric Manalang, party president, told reporters in a press conference in Pasig City that they have already sent a demand letter to Maria Ressa, managing director for ABS-CBN news, to explain why their vice-presidential candidate Dominador Chipeco Jr. was not invited to its vice-presidential debate last week.

He said, as of press time, they have not received any reply.

“We are pushed against the wall, we have no other resource to seek justice for our cause,” he said.

Manalang said the exclusion of Chipeco from the vice-presidential debate is a clear violation of the Fair Election Act (RA 9006) which provides that “all members of media, television, radio or print shall scrupulously report and interpret the news, taking care not to suppress essential facts nor to distort the truth by omission or improper emphasis. They shall recognize the duty to air the other side.”

The party said they would consider a public apology from the network.

He said the snub of ABS-CBN is more than just an affront against the integrity of Ang Kapatiran Party, which is duly accredited by the Commission on Elections and authorized by law to field candidates for the May 2010 elections.