The Philippine Online Chronicles

A senator and an anti-corruption advocate slammed the massive efforts of the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) to highlight President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's legacy through advertisements.

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago on Wednesday criticized the move, pointing out that Arroyo had all the chances to underscore the government's accomplishments in her annual State of the Nation Address (SONA) or in meetings with certain interest groups, and did not need to spend the taxpayers' money on these “legacy ads.”

“It’s not only irregular, but unnecessary because the President has many opportunities to list down these achievements, agency by agency,” Inquirer quoted Santiago as saying.

Santiago also called the attention of PIA head Secretary Conrado Limcaoco to the criteria set by the Commission on Audit (COA) regarding the legitimacy of spending public funds, as follows: “1) expenses should not be irregular or unnecessary or expensive or extravagant, 2) it should be information that the public needs to know, 3) information should be essential to the function of the agency.” She further reminded that agencies “cannot just draw funds from other line items and divert it for the purpose of publicity.”

The lawmaker has been a steadfast critic of politically leaning infomercials. In 2009, Santiago lashed out at government officials whose infomercials proliferate, particularly those of Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Director General Augusto Syjuco and Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Rolando Puno, calling them a herd of “thick-skinned, dimwitted rhinoceros.”

Lawyer Ernesto Francisco pointed out another violation committed by PIA's promotions, this time of an administrative order (AO) issued in 2004 by the very person featured in their advertisements. The AO 103 prohibits using public funds on “paid media advertisements, except those required in the issuance of agency guidelines, rules and regulations, the conduct of public bidding, and the dissemination of important public announcements.”

Francisco estimated the funds spent on newspaper ads alone, saying that they amounted to nearly three million, which could feed many families in a day. He also maintained that it was "wasteful spending," since ads are unnecessary if the Filipinos can actually feel the progress each ad purports the government to have achieved.

However, PIA dismissed the criticism, as well as reports that the agency spent nearly P1 billion for the ads. Deputy spokesperson Gary Olivar said in a television interview that all the promotion was normal for their job to let the Filipinos know where their taxes go. He added that the move was not a campaign propaganda for Arroyo, who gave the legacy ads the green light.