Bro. Eddie: Spare Pinoys from political ads (5:38 p.m.)

MANILA -- Tele-evangelist and Bangon Pilipinas standard bearer Bro. Eddie Villanueva on Saturday called on fellow politicians to spare the viewing public from a barrage of political advertisements on Manny Pacquiao’s title defense fight on Sunday.

In a statement circulated to media, Villanueva said the politicians should not abuse the expected high viewership ratings on Pacquiao’s bout against Ghanaian former IBF welterweight champion Joshua Clottey for the World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight crown.

“I was told that many candidates paid millions of pesos worth of airtime for their commercials to be aired in the Pacman-Clottey fight. Kasi nga naman sigurado ang viewership. Pero para sa mga kababayan natin na gusto lang naman sumuporta sa ating Pambansang Kamao, hindi makatarungan na pagtiisin silang panoorin ang mga patalastas ng mga pulitiko. They don’t deserve to get bombard with political ads that spoil the fun and souse the excitement out of the game,” Villanueva said.

He added that the minimum ad placement in the Pacquiao-Clottey fight allegedly costs P2 million, inclusive of replays and cable exposure.

“Tomorrow, I suggest our viewers do not only count the number of Pacman punches that would land in Clottey’s face; I suggest they also count the number of spots candidates have placed in the television coverage. That would be really interesting,” Villanueva said.

Dubbed as "The Event," Pacquiao is facing Clottey in boxing's debut at the $1.2-billion (P55.2-billion) Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)