Senators are working to increase the caps on election campaign spending, with pandemic restrictions poised to change how the politicans battle for votes in 2022.
Senate Bill 801 filed by Sen. Imee Marcos seeks to amend a 30-year-old law and double the spending limit for presidential and vice presidential candidates to P20 per voter.
This means that if there are 60 million voters for the May 9, 2022 elections, candidates can only spend P1.2 billion for their campaign. Senators discussed the bill at length on Wednesday.
For political parties, Marcos sought to quadruple the cap to P20 from P5 for per voter.
Sen. Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III suggested to introduce a separate amount for senatorial candidates -- P5 per voter from the current P3 instead of P20.
"We don't want to bring it to the level of P20. We need to segregate it for the same reason that those who are not monied can still aspire to become senator," Pimentel said.
For local candidates including congressmen, Sen. Ralph Recto suggested to increase the spending limit to P10 from P3.
Sen. Richard Gordon questioned the timing and enforceability of the measure. He said there was no assurance of proper implementation as senators themselves have admitted to overspending on past campaigns.
"I think the timing is not proper because there is a pandemic going on, people are not too happy about the government and that includes everyone. If we raise it, they're gonna say you're not solving the problem and you're simply saying that because the rate of expenditures is no longer applicable," he said.