“Why does he have huge billboards all over? Is it campaign season already?” a user on X, formerly Twitter, wrote in a post in January. “I wonder if he’ll vie for the Senate next year,” another X user posted in March.
“I’m still confused why Wilbert Lee is spending so much,” said another on the social media platform in May.
Wilbert Lee is a multi-millionaire businessman-turned-lawmaker representing AGRI, a party-list group advocating for the rights and welfare of farmers and fisherfolk. He also appears in a regular Sunday morning TV show on GMA Network, which so far has aired 21 episodes.
Lee has not only been visible on billboards and on TV. He’s also been busy boosting his posts on Meta or Facebook. He is the biggest spender on the social media platform, based on data from April 20 to July 18.
As of July 21, he has spent P2.5 million to boost 1,396 posts targeting Facebook users nationwide, particularly those in the voting age of 18 and above.
Lee won a seat in the House of Representatives as AGRI representative in 2022. His wife Delphine Gan Lee represented the party-list group for three consecutive terms, from 2013 to 2022.
He was the principal author of the New Agrarian Reform Emancipation Act, which sought to condone the loans and amortizations of agrarian reform beneficiaries, and exempt them from payment of estate tax on awarded agricultural lands.
Lee is eligible to represent AGRI for a second term after next year’s midterm elections. But his name has also appeared in surveys on senatorial preferences.
Political aspirants will file their certificates of candidacy in October.
AGRI was founded in Davao City in 2005 but Lee himself is from Bicol. Before joining politics, Lee sat as chairman of LKY Group of Companies, established by his father Lee King Yek. It is engaged in retail, food, real estate, and construction.
His wife declared a total net worth of P254 million in 2018, a sharp increase from her P25 million declaration in 2015.
Party-list lawmakers among early spenders
Lee is just one of the party-list representatives already boosting posts on the platform to reach out to voting age Filipinos a year before the midterm elections.
90-day spending on Facebook
| Party-list Groups | Amount spent on Meta |
| Cong. Wilbert T. Lee (Agri) | P2,501,032.00 |
| Brian Yamsuan (Bicol Saro) | P149,881 |
| Duterte Youth Party-list | P145,087.00 |
| Rodante Marcoleta (Sagip) | P114,038.00 |
| Trabaho Party-list | P108,416.00 |
The Duterte Youth Party-list’s expenses have run up to more than P145,087.
In 2019, a petition was filed in the Commission of Elections to void its registration as a party-list group, alleging its failure to comply with publication requirements. It was granted a certificate of proclamation in 2020 after four out of five commissioners voted in favor of it.
Incumbent Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Brian Raymund Yamsuan, for his part, has paid about P150,000 to appeal to users in Parañaque City.
He served as a consultant to then Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa until he was fired in 2013 by the late President Benigno Aquino III for arranging a meeting between “pork barrel’’ scam alleged mastermind Janet Napoles and editors of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, according to a Vera Files report. He also allegedly received money from Napoles.
Trabaho Party-list, which appears to be a new group, has spent more than P100,000 on the platform, too.
Local officials
Many local politicians are also boosting posts on the platform, based on the Ad Library of Meta.
Navotas Rep. Tobias “Toby” Tiangco has paid more than P500,000 to boost posts targeting local users in Navotas City.
He was followed by House Speaker Martin Romualdez who spent more than P200,000 to boost his posts.
Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas has also spent more than P200,000 to boost posts. But his target users are mostly those in Tapaz town in nearby Capiz province.
90-day spending on Facebook
| Local officials | Facebook ad spending (PHP) | Target areas |
| Toby Tiangco | P577,048.00 | Navotas City |
| Martin Romualdez | P211,518.00 | Philippines |
| Jerry Treñas | P208,797.00 | Tapas, Capiz; Iloilo; Philippines |
| Congresswoman Ching Bernos | P168,513.00 | Mostly Luzon but also Cebu and Mindanao |
| Pompee La Viña | P123,951.00 | Cagayan De Oro |
| Ann Matibag | P133,405.00 | Laguna |
| Lolita Karen Javier | P145,150.00 | Philippines |
| Teacher Stella Quimbo | P116,849.00 | Philippines |
| L-Ray Villafuerte | P100,000.00 | Mostly Luzon but also Cebu and Mindanao |
| John Dalipe (Supporter page) | P98,297.00 | Zamboanga Del Sur |
Abra Rep. Menchie “Ching” Beronilla Bernos has spent more than P150,000 to boost posts tailored for users residing in the Cordillera Administrative Region.
Former Social Security System commissioner Jose Gabriel “Pompee” La Viña has spent almost P150,000 on FB ads for users in Cagayan de Oro.
Other top spenders were Laguna Rep. Rene Ann Matibag, Leyte Rep. Lolita Karen Javier, Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo, Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund “LRay” Villafuerte, and Zamboanga City Mayor John Dalipe. — PCIJ.org