Tuesday, September 23, 2008 ‘Wider reach prompted shortcut’ in placing of ad
THE worry that bidding for the advertisement on Cebu City’s anti-dengue campaign would allow less-watched TV stations to snag the contract was what prompted Mayor Tomas Osmeña to deal directly with ABS-CBN.
He also admitted in a news conference yesterday that he was not aware of the bureaucratic procedures he had to follow when placing advertisements, especially in an emergency situation.
“My understanding of a bidding is that the lowest bidder will get the contract. What if the winner has only 100 viewers?” Osmeña said.
The mayor believes holding a bidding for the ad placement would have defeated its purpose because he was looking for a TV station with the widest reach, and not with the cheapest rates.
He claimed that ABS-CBN has 65 percent of the television audience, presumably in Cebu, although he did not say where he got the figures.
Aside from offering a discount, ABS-CBN also gave the City 20 free non-prime time spots, which would have cost P9,720 per spot.
The TV station charged the City P10,000 for each spot on prime time instead of the retail rate of P16,000 per spot.
He said the City has become aggressive in raising public awareness on dengue after the number of deaths and cases attributed to it increased dramatically last year.
The turning point was the case of a 20-year-old girl from Barangay Labangon, who died just 24 hours after being rushed to the hospital.
Not heeded
Despite reminders posted throughout the barangay that the area is a dengue zone, the girl reportedly did not seek early consultation.
“I was not aware of these bidding procedures so I said ‘Let’s just air the ads already. If we can save one more life, I’ll save one more life.’ What’s wrong with that?” he said.
The airing of the 30-second commercials since Sept. 3 is covered by a contract signed by the mayor but the document did not go to the Bids and Awards Committee and the City Council for approval.
After questions were raised in the City Council and the city administrator conducted an investigation when the issue was reported in newspapers, Osmeña volunteered to pay for the ads himself.
Help
“Now if there is a technicality, I said ‘Never mind, I’ll take care of the payment’ and I have gotten a lot of calls from people who want to help me pay for the ads…But since it’s my own council who is complaining, sige na lang, I will just raise the money,” said the mayor.
But even if he is going to pay for the airing service fee using private funds, the mayor said the public has to understand why he rushed the airing of the TV commercials.
“I can simply wash out the issue now that I will no longer ask City Hall to pay for it, but that does not absolve me from explaining what transpired,” he noted.
Osmeña stressed that his good relationship with the network was only a secondary concern to ABS-CBN’s ratings. (LCR)
