"Anti-Duterte Advertisement" (lost radio recording of political attack advertisement; 2016)

Status: Lost

This article has been tagged as NSFW due to its language.

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Antonio Trillanes was a then-elected senator of the Philippines. He served his term from 2007 up until 2019. He currently is a full-time lecturer for public policy at universities in the Philippines.

Back in 2016, Trillanes had made a political "attack ad" (an advertisement attacking a political entity) against his then-rival, Davao City mayor and now then-president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, which aired on the Thursday night of May 5th, 2016 on the channel ABS-CBN, four days before the presidential election. There are claims of a radio version of this attack ad had aired, though no known recordings have been located.

Background

The 2016 presidential campaign of Rodrigo Duterte was announced on November 21st, 2015. He was eventually then elected the 16th president of the Philippines. Duterte's positions were seen to have resonated with older, working-class Filipinos, particularly his promise to eliminate the wide-scale drug menace of the country, eliminating corruption, and his harsh stances on crime in Davao City, which he served for more than 22 years. Duterte's campaign also emphasized an anti-establishment tone, accusing political elites based in Manila of not doing much to solve problems in a move that was described as "populist".

Advertisement

The 30-second advertisement showing each of the six children (four boys and two girls) criticizes in brief words every respective video clip shown:

Boy 1: Ganito ba gusto niyo? (Is this how you like it?)
Duterte: Kayo ang patayin ko. Patayin ko kayong lahat. (I will kill you. I will kill you all.)
Boy 2: Mali po ang pumatay. (It is wrong to kill.)
Duterte: Pope, ***** ka, umuwi ka na. (Pope, *****, go home.)
Boy 3: Tama po ba murahin ang Santo Papa? (Is it right to despise the Pope?)
Duterte: (yelling) Mabuhay ang NPA [National People's Army]! (Long live the NPA!)
Boy 4: Ituro niyo po sa amin ang tama. (Please teach us what is right.)
(shows a footage of Duterte kissing a woman)
Duterte: Napaka-ganda niya! Dapat ang Mayor muna ang mauna. (She is so beautiful! The Mayor must come first.)
Girl 1: Mali po mambastos ng babae. (It's wrong to show rudeness to a woman.)
Duterte: If I become president, it would be bloody.
Girl 2: Ito po bang gusto niyong maging halimbawa para sa amin? (Is this what you want to be an example for us?)
(shows a footage of Duterte raising his middle finger - which is blurred out)

Availability

The TV advertisement was uploaded online on May 5th, 2016, the same day the ad was aired on Philippine television, specifically, it aired on a Thursday night of May 5th, 2016 on ABS-CBN.

Some sources claimed that the attack ad was also aired on competing rival networks, GMA and TV5. GMA and TV5 denied ever airing the ad. It was also reported that the ad was first aired on radio stations before it was aired on ABS-CBN, However, there are no known recordings of its radio version to this day.

Aftermath

The advertisement drew criticism from Duterte's supporters on social media. Prior to the airing of the ad, the ABS-CBN Corporation issued a statement that the ad had been reviewed by the ethics committee, complied with election laws, and was allowed to air. Later, TV5 refused to air the controversial ad, with the TV5 Network stating that the ad had not met requirements.

Video

Anti-Duterte ad

Anti-Duterte ad