By Joseph Bernard A. Marzan
As the official campaign period nears, senatorial candidate Camille Villar, who continues to struggle in nationwide surveys, emerged as the top Facebook ad spender in Western Visayas for most of January 2025.
Data from the Meta Ad Library between January 2 and 31 showed that Villar’s page spent ₱333,570 on Facebook ads.
Other top spenders included Pilipinas Today Bisaya (₱139,310), Pilipinas Today (₱137,981), Paolo Z. Roxas (₱90,628), ANGKASangga (₱78,239), Kikommunity – Kiko Pangilinan Volunteers (₱73,778), Ronnie Dadivas (₱69,917), Pilipinas (₱60,394), Francis Tolentino (₱58,562), and Rep. Howard Guintu (₱56,464).
Villar currently has three active Facebook ads, two of which began running on January 7, and one on January 22.
All three ads were paid for by Fine Properties, Inc., a company owned by the Villar family, which was reported by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) in 2023 to have owed Las Piñas City ₱4.3 million in unpaid taxes.
A Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey conducted from December 2024 to January 2025, commissioned by the Stratbase Group, placed Villar between 12th and 14th place, just two points outside the Senate’s Magic 12.
SPENDING BREAKDOWN
Pilipinas Today Bisaya paid for its own ads and ran 33 active Facebook ads in Bisaya and Tagalog, with the earliest launched on January 8 and the latest on January 31.
The ads featured:
- 17 ads promoting re-electionist Sen. Francis Tolentino
- 14 ads for House Speaker Martin Romualdez
- 1 ad each for Makati Mayor and senatorial candidate Mar-Len Abigail Binay and Vice President Sara Duterte
WannaFactPH (WFPH) paid for advertisements on its sister pages, Pilipinas Today (3rd highest spender) and Pilipinas (8th highest spender).
Daily Guardian verified that WFPH has an empty website.
However, WFPH’s address matched Sartine IT Solutions, which is linked to Breyalex, a technology firm allegedly involved in troll operations during Guam’s 2018 gubernatorial race, as reported by the Pacific News Center.
MindaNews also reported in April 2024 that Sartine managed multiple WFPH-funded pages, all using the same “pt” logo.
Pilipinas Today had 240 active ads, with the earliest launched on November 29 and the latest on Sunday, February 2.
REGIONAL CANDIDATES AND PARTY-LISTS
Paolo Roxas, who is running for Capiz’s 1st congressional district seat, had eight active Hiligaynon-language ads as of Tuesday, February 4, 2025.
Two of his ads were launched on January 31, while the other six ads went live between February 1 and February 3.
ANGKASangga, a party-list group seeking to represent motorcycle riders, had 28 active ads, including 27 in Tagalog and one in Hiligaynon.
The ads prominently featured Angkas co-founder and CEO George Royeca and its celebrity endorser, Vice Ganda.
Iloilo-based AAMBIS-Owa Partylist, which is not running in this year’s elections, has publicly endorsed ANGKASangga and is promoting its campaign on its Facebook page.
Kikommunity – Kiko Pangilinan Volunteers had four active ads featuring former senator Francis Pangilinan, who is seeking a Senate comeback.
One ad was launched in December, while three ran in January.
All were paid for by the Liberal Party, where Pangilinan serves as chairman.
LOCAL BETS AND OTHER TOP SPENDERS
Roxas City Mayor Ronnie Dadivas, who is seeking a third and final term, had nine active ads, with three running since January and six launched between February 1 and 3.
All of Dadivas’ ads were paid for by Roxas City United, a group with an inactive website and a Facebook page last updated in 2022.
Although Sen. Francis Tolentino’s page was among the top Facebook ad spenders in January, it currently has no active ads, with the last campaign ending on February 2.
Meanwhile, Rep. Howard Guintu, Paolo Roxas’ rival in Capiz’s 1st congressional race, has one active ad promoting applications for the Commission on Higher Education’s (CHED) Tulong-Dunong program.
Other Top January Facebook Ad Spenders in W. Visayas
- Team Good Governance – ₱56,279
- Wilbert “Wise” Lee – ₱39,672
- Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa – ₱36,827
- Lee Ann Debuque – ₱35,734
- Florencio “Joeben” Tumbocon Miraflores – ₱34,381
- Raniel Resuello – ₱30,866
- Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas – ₱30,118
- Pilipinas Today Davao – ₱27,989
- SBP – Serbisyo sa Bayan Partylist – ₱27,625
- Heal PH Partylist – ₱23,629
