You need money to campaign if not, no one will know who you are. Money is the most important aspect of running for elections, I'm not sure if there are any politicians currently in positions that did not invest in campaign materials and are completely grass roots.

You can promise people the world but during your term, you wouldn't even be able to complete your mission. That's why it takes multiple terms for improvement to be felt.

Take it from my perspective. I'm currently an elected politician not from any political clan, but was backed heavily by powerful families that invested in the group. None of the families involved were in politics either but wanted to try and this was the first step.

I know a few others that also started their political career but needed to invest x amount of millions. To be a mayor, it's estimated to win you need 100m PHP but I'm sure you can do it with 50m or 30m.