News that presidential aspirant Vice President Leni Robredo already spent around P14.1 million on Facebook ads months before the kickoff of the official campaign period was met with derision by her critics, but she said on Thursday, Jan. 20, that supporters paid for these ads.
A close look into the ads showed that most of these were paid for by the volunteer group Dapat si Leni and this was also reported in Robredo’s official page.
As far as the Vice President knows, not a single centavo used to pay for the ads came from her official campaign organization.
“From the official campaign, not that I’m aware of. Ang alam ko talaga, Mike, karamihan talaga dito mga (What I really know, Mike, is that most of these are from) volunteer groups,” she told broadcaster Mike Navallo on ANC.
“I understand why our volunteers feel the need to do that because it’s been clear over the past five years and going into the campaign na grabe talaga ‘yung social media machinery ng kalaban (that the social media machinery of the rivals is really too much),” Robredo added.
Facebook’s transparency tool showed that from August to December 2021, Robredo’s page—including Team Leni Robredo and Dapat Si Leni—spent P14.1 million while other presidential aspirants such as Senator Panfilo Lacson only spent P5.36 million.
READ: Robredo's new campaign ad projects her as 'capable leader'
In comparison, former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who tops presidential preference surveys, has not recorded any ad spending.
Robredo said the Marcos camp may not be spending on ads but it is certainly spending on something “not over the table, not above board.”
“Alam natin na marami silang ginagawa na gumagastos sila, pero hindi pareho ng (We all know that they are doing a lot that they are spending, but not like with) Facebook ads na (that) you can actually compute and quantify,” she added.
The aspiring president cited “many experts” who said that the Marcos camp has trolls armies and “massive machinery campaign.”
Jonathan Ong, an associate professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst who has studied disinformation networks in the region told the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) that the Marcos camp invests in meme wars, political fan groups, community pages, and micro-influencers.
Robredo claimed she has always been at the “receiving end” of the fake news.
“Kaya marami talaga sa mga (That’s why many of our) volunteer groups namin iyong (their) perception nila (is), kailangan talaga nilang tumulong (they really need to help),” she said.
Her volunteer groups are doing more fundraising activities but Robredo said these funds are not chanelled directly to her official campaign organization that does not maintain a central repository of all donated funds.
The official campaign team has already reached out to volunteer groups to inform them that once the official campaign season on Feb. 8 kicks off, they cannot organize activities without informing the official campaign organization.
“Our official camapign is looking for ways on how we can have a mechanism na nasusundan ito (that this will be monitored),” Robredo said.