AT MONDAY’S INQUIRER PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE, Sen. Manny Villar offered a simple but powerful defense of his heavy ad spending. Then he pivoted and issued an even more forceful challenge to his rivals for the presidency. His words are worth quoting in full: “Pera ko naman ang ginagastos ko. Napakahalaga, tanungin din natin, hindi lamang kung magkano na ang nagastos, kundi sino ang nagbibigay sa kanila, dahil baka ito ang ihinalal nating pangulo, at hindi yung nakaharap dito.”(A close translation: It’s my money that I’m using. It’s very important [that] we should also ask, not only how much has been spent, but who is giving [money] to them, because these may be the ones we elect as president, and not the one facing [us] here.)

His challenge, however, is not without complications. It is true that, with the possible exception of Eduardo Cojuangco in 1992 and Juan Ponce Enrile in 1998, Villar is the first nationally known political figure to run for the presidency entirely on his own money. But it is only natural to ask: How does he intend to recover all the money he will spend?

We do not underestimate the public appeal of a self-funded campaign. If Villar succeeds, he will be the first president to arrive in Malacañang financially beholden to no one. (At the height of the Noynoy Aquino euphoria, late last year, the possibility of a people-funded campaign, and thus a president-elect with no major financial debts of gratitude, also animated the Liberal Party.) Philippine polity has not yet reached a sufficient level of maturity to subsidize the cost of party-based elections with counterpart public money; perhaps before then, a self-funded campaign (or one entirely supported by small donations from a broad spectrum of citizens) is the best means to negate the influence of vested interests.

Also, we should also point out that Sen. Mar Roxas, Aquino’s vice-presidential candidate, started pulling away from Sen. Loren Legarda in surveys tracking the vice-presidential contest precisely at the time his camp started investing again in advertising campaigns. Indeed, Roxas (“Mr. Palenge,” who placed first) and Sen. Jamby Madrigal (“Ja-ja-ja-jamby,” who placed fourth) massively outspent all other candidates for the Senate in 2004. In other words, Roxas shares with Villar a track record of heavy campaign spending.

This was a point raised at the Inquirer debate against Madrigal, one of 10 officially accredited candidates for the presidency. Didn’t you yourself use a celebrity endorser when you first ran for the Senate? she was asked. Madrigal, a surprisingly nimble speaker, responded by striking a contrite note, saying she has seen the folly of her ways. That expensive foolishness, however, spelled the difference between victory in 2004 and defeat in her first run for the Senate in 2001.

Heavy ad spending, in sum, is a sin that covers a multitude of sinners.

What really concerns us, though, is the sheer magnitude of Villar’s spending. Again, it is only natural to ask, How will he recoup his investment? “Pera ko naman ang ginagastos ko.” Precisely. Not even the notoriously generous variety show host Willie Revillame gives away millions of pesos of his own money (it only looks that way). Villar needs to convince the public that he is, in fact, one of a kind, and can give away hundreds of millions, perhaps even the billions that political analysts say are needed to finance a presidential run, away, without thought of recompense.

In other words, at such levels of spending, Villar faces the prospect of himself becoming a vested interest.