Following presidential bet Senator Panfilo Lacson’s claim that Alvarez’ chief of staff asked for P800-million in funding, Davao Del Norte 1st district Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez explained his side of the million peso story, citing poll watcher costs.
Lacson previously alleged that the reason Partido Reporma decided to endorse Vice President Leni Robredo’s campaign was because Lacson could not produce an P800-million in funding requested by Alvarez’ chief of staff.
Alvarez is the president of Partido Reporma.
“His chief of staff was asking for 800 million pesos (P800-Million) in additional funding which I honestly told him I cannot produce,” Lacson disclosed to reporters on Friday, March 25.
In a press statement sent later in the day on Friday, March 25, Alvarez explained his side of the story. He first put forward calculations from his end pertaining to the cost of hiring poll watchers.
“During election day, you need two watchers, one for the morning, the other for the afternoon/evening, per precinct. Multiply 389,703 by 2, you need 779,406 watchers. For their allowance, reimbursements of their costs, such as training, food, transportation, etc., it’s safe to estimate that per poll watcher will cost P1,000 conservatively,” Alvarez bared in his statement to the press on March 25.
“Given these considerations, the budget, at the minimum, on election day itself, should be approximately P779,406,000.00 for a credible national campaign. But be mindful, this is based on 2019 data. 2022 will have more polling precincts. And poll watchers are merely one of many items on a campaign budget,” he added.
Furthermore, the lawmaker felt “duty-bound” to explain to Lacson the cost of an electoral campaign.
“As the President of Partido Reporma, I was duty-bound to inform our then Chairman about the requirements needed to sustain a credible effort on the ground. Without the ability to cover for these costs, it was only right that we inform our local candidates – from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao – and ground personnel about the true state of our fiscal affairs. And that is what I did,” Alvarez said.
The Davao Del Norte solon and Duterte ally previously explained that the decision to endorse VP Robredo was driven in large part by poll numbers.
“While the candidate second in ranking still lags far behind from the frontrunner, it is evident that her campaign has gained, and continues to gain, significant traction. There is much potential there. She has also shown that she represents ideals which are substantially in line with the aims of Partido Reporma: to reform government and provide a better future for Filipinos,” Alvarez said on March 24.
As a result of Partido Reporma’s endorsement of Robredo, Lacson resigned as the party’s standard bearer last Thursday, March 24, opting instead to run as an independent candidate.