THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday reminded candidates for the October 30 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) of the ban on premature campaigning.
In its Memorandum, the Comelec – Office of the Executive Director said those who will engage in premature campaigning will face election offense charges.
“Section 80 of the Omnibus Election Code (OEC) provides that it shall be unlawful for any person to engage in an election campaign or partisan political activity except during the campaign period,” said Comelec Executive Director Teopisto Elnas.
“Thus, a person who, after filing his or her Certificate of Candidacy, publishes or distributes campaign materials designed to support or oppose the election of any candidate, including him or herself, commits the offense of premature campaigning if such act or acts were committed not within the campaign period,” Elnas said.
Under the law, any person found guilty of any election offense shall be penalized with imprisonment of one to six years, suffer disqualification to hold public office, and deprivation of the right of suffrage.
Campaigning is prohibited from September 3 to October 18. The official campaign period will be from October 19 to 28.
The Comelec reminded candidates that that once the campaign period kicks off, campaign materials are prohibited in public places, such as publicly-owned electronic announcement boards like light-emitting diode (LED) display boards located along highways and streets and walls of public buildings; motor vehicles used as patrol cars, ambulances, and for other similar purposes that are owned by the government; public transport vehicles owned and controlled by the government such as the Metro Rail Transit (MRT), Light Rail Transit (LRT), and Philippine National Railway trains; waiting sheds, sidewalks, street and lamp posts, electric posts and wires, traffic signages and other signboards erected on public property; schools, public shrines, barangay halls, government offices, health centers, public structures and buildings; and within the premises of public transport terminals, owned and controlled by the government.
“All campaign materials posted therein shall be immediately removed during the campaign period,” said Elnas.
On the other hand, the poll body said plazas, markets, barangay centers, and other similar public places with the heaviest pedestrian and/or vehicular traffic in the city or municipality may be declared as common poster areas.
“These public places may not be the subject of the Baklas Operations when it has been duly designated by the Election Officer as common poster areas,” said Elnas.
As for campaign materials used, he said it shall be prohibited to have individual posters exceeding 2 by 3 feet; billboards, posters, tarpaulins exceeding 2 feet by 3 feet; propaganda materials that are violative of gender sensitivity principles, obscene, discriminatory, offensive, or otherwise constitute a violation of the Magna Carta of Women; posters that do not bear the words “political advertisement paid for/by (name of candidate/s) “ or the words “printed free of charge;” posters that are not stand-alone, having the maximum size or lesser of 2 feet by 3 feet, and put together or side by side to form a collage-like poster exceeding 2 feet by 3 feet; single letters of names having the maximum size or lesser of 2 feet by 3 feet, and then putting them together to form a size exceeding 2 feet by 3 feet; and poster/tarpaulin bearing the photo/picture of the whole slate exceeding 2 feet by 3 feet.
Also prohibited are murals in public places, which contain the name, image, logo, brand, insignia, color motif, initials, and other symbol or graphic representation that is capable of being associated with a candidate or party; and the distribution of campaign materials that contain the name, image, logo, brand, insignia, color motif, initials, and other symbol or graphic representation that is capable of being associated with a candidate, such as t-shirt, umbrellas, handkerchiefs, bags, sunvisors, fans, ballers, hats/caps, and ballpens.
The Comelec also said that election propaganda on the internet, video-sharing site, social media network, or any other medium, is being allowed for all candidates seeking elective positions, but will be subjected to the limitation on authorized expenses of candidates, observation of truth in advertising, and to the supervision and regulation by the Commission.
The poll body also said that any candidate, individually or jointly with other aspirants, may hold peaceful online political meetings, rallies, or other similar activities during the campaign period, and shall not be covered by the limitations on broadcast advertising.
Said candidates, however, are required to incorporate sign language interpreters and closed captioning in broadcast election propaganda intended for exhibition on television and/or the internet.
Meanwhile, the humanitarian arm of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) called on the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to make sure that the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) will remain apolitical.
In a statement, Caritas Philippines urged the DSWD to shield the 4Ps from having any political color as it will ruin the program’s main purpose to help the poorest of the poor.
“We need to ensure that the program is implemented in a way that is fair and sustainable and to ensure that the poorest and most marginalized people are prioritized,” said Caritas Philippines president Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo.
“This should not be used to advance political interest, especially at the local level,” he said.
The 4Ps is a program that provides conditional cash grants to the poorest of the poor in a bid to improve their health, nutrition, and the education of children.
