MANILA, Philippines – “Wala kaming binayaran na kahit sinong celebrity, or star, or kahit sinong tao (We didn’t pay any celebrity, star, or anybody else).”

Liberal Party standard-bearer Manuel Roxas II insisted neither he, the ruling party, nor his campaign team spent for the star-studded music video which featured himself and his running mate, Camarines Sur Representative Leni Robredo.

Among the stars of the music video for the song “Fast Forward” were popular teenage stars Daniel Padilla and Kathryn Bernardo. (WATCH: KathNiel, Billy, Ramon, and more PH stars in Mar-Leni music video)

Padilla had earlier starred in a series of video interviews with Roxas, wherein he asked the LP standard-bearer about various issues.

“Absolutely zero government funding was used to produce this video because we did not pay these celebrities a single centavo,” Roxas said during a CNN Philippines-sponsored “Town Hall forum” at the Far Eastern University on Thursday, December 10. Roxas was asked via video a question about allegations that government funds were used in the production of the video.

Roxas added: “Eto yung mga naniniwala na dapat magpatuloy ang Daang Matuwid. Nakikita nila na malayo na ang narating natin, marami na ang napag-tagumpayan natin. At nais nila na magpatuloy yung kaunlaran sa ating bansa so wala kaming binayaran na kahit sinong celebrity or sinong star or kahit sinong tao na mag-appear dun sa music video na yun.”

(There are people who believe that Daang Matuwid should continue. They’ve seen that we’ve come so far, we’ve achieved so much. And they want progress in the country to continue so we did not pay any celebrity, star, or any person to appear in that music video.) 

The music video has caught the attention Filipinos online, many of whom have accused the ruling party’s presidential bet of shelling out huge sums of money to cover star power in the production.

Celebrities in the video have also earned the ire of Roxas’ critics, who say they only endorsed the LP standard-bearer in exchange for money. Several of the stars have denied the allegations. – Rappler.com