Suspended Bohol Governor Aris Cabagnot Aumentado emerged as the highest spender on Facebook advertisements in the Central Visayas region over the past three months, according to data from Facebook’s Ad Library.
Aumentado’s Facebook ad spending reached P88,212, outpacing other political figures and organizations in the country.
Following closely behind was Bong Go, with ad expenditures of P82,163. Senator Migz Zubiri and Pablo John “PJ” Garcia ranked third and fourth, spending P51,224 and P48,548 respectively.
Other notable spenders included:
– Bam Aquino: P47,777
– Benhur Abalos: P31,383
– Ramon Bong Revilla, Jr.: P25,889
– Byron Garcia: P15,583
– Cong. Wilbert T. Lee: P14,984
– Martin Romualdez: P13,952
– Senator Risa Hontiveros: P13,761
– Senator Win Gatchalian: P12,802
– Lolita Karen Javier: P9,887
– Congresswoman Ching Bernos: P8,337
The data also revealed smaller expenditures from various political entities and individuals, ranging from P6,555 spent by the Trabaho Partylist to P2,568 by Jinggoy Estrada.
The spending pattern highlights the increasing importance of social media, particularly Facebook, in political communication and outreach in the Central Visayas region.
The Facebook Ad Library, which provided this data, aims to increase transparency in political advertising on the platform.
FACEBOOK AD LIBRARY
The Facebook Ad Library is a public database and transparency tool created by Facebook (now Meta) to provide information about ads running across Facebook’s platforms, including Instagram.
The library is designed to increase transparency in advertising, especially for political and social issue ads. It contains all active ads currently running on Facebook and Instagram, as well as inactive political and issue ads.
For each ad, it typically shows:
– Who paid for the ad
– How much was spent
– When the ad ran
– Where the ad was shown (geographically)
– Demographic information about who saw the ad
Political Ad Focus
The library provides more detailed information for ads related to politics or social issues, including funding sources.
Anyone can access the Ad Library without needing a Facebook account.
Users can search by advertiser name, keywords, or topics.
Facebook provides an API for researchers and journalists to analyze ad data in bulk.
The Ad Library was developed partly in response to concerns about political interference and to comply with various countries’ election regulations.
For political ads, it maintains a 7-year archive.
Meta said the tool is particularly useful for researchers, journalists, and the public to understand advertising patterns, especially in political contexts.