Online Filipinos are calling on political aspirants in the 2022 elections to refrain from using hefty amounts of money for their campaigns.
The call was inspired by the tweet of Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto who told his constituents he will not spend lavishly come the campaigning period.
On Wednesday, Sotto thanked his supporters who are backing his reelection bid and tweeted the vow to scrimp on campaign funds.
He filed his certificate of candidacy for mayor last week.
“Hindi pa rin tayo gagastos ng malaki. Tandaan—ang gagastos ng malaki sa kampanya, ay malaki rin ang babawiin,” Sotto tweeted.
“Ok lang tawagin akong kuripot, at least hindi magnanakaw. Ang importante, nagagamit sa tama at (nang) buo ang pera ng taumbayan,” he added, as enclosed in parentheses symbols.
That tweet of the city chief executive reached 25,300 likes, almost 2,500 quote tweets and more than 4,000 retweets as of this writing.
Some Filipinos online agreed with the mayor’s remark and hoped that other political aspirants would emulate him especially as campaign season draws near.
“Best advice so far,” a Twitter user said.
“Please pakibroadcast ito sa TVs and radios every day. We need to be reminded of this constantly para ma-absorb natin ito. We are not beholden to politicians for asking for our taxes’ worth!” another Twitter user said.
“It’s rare to see politicians say this confidently without hesitations,” a Twitter user said.
“I hope politicians should be like him,” a different Filipino commented wtih a folding hands emoji.
“Can’t wait for all our future leaders to be like this guy,” another Twitter user said.
The election campaign period is when political aspirants bare their platforms to the voters who will elect them.
Usually, public office hopefuls spend a lot on campaign materials such as tarpaulins and advertisements.