THE campaign period for senatorial candidates and party-list organizations running in the May 2025 polls begins today, with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) vowing to strictly implement its rules and regulations on campaigning.
In an interview, Comelec chairman George Garcia said they expect the 65 senatorial aspirants and 155 party-list organizations to go all out in promoting their respective candidacies until May 10, 2025.
“By midnight, they are already allowed to campaign,” Garcia said, adding that “all of them are already candidates, and not just simple aspirants.”
With the country now inside the official campaign period, Garcia reminded the candidates that they are now mandated to adhere to their rules and regulations on campaigning.
“We are now capable of implementing the election laws, particularly those regarding campaigning,” he said, referring to prohibited campaign materials.
“If they (candidates) don’t take them down, we will have them removed from public places. We will also file criminal charges against them for committing an election offense,” Garcia said.
The poll chief said they are set to conduct “Oplan Baklas” starting today to coincide with the start of the campaign period.
“All the local Comelec offices will conduct Oplan Baklas and we will closely monitor the removal of campaign materials in trees, posts, public facilities, LRT and MRT, footbridge. All of these will be taken down,” he said.
The administration’s senatorial slate, the “Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas,” will kick off its campaign in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte, the home province of President Marcos Jr., where a rally will be held at the Ilocos Norte Centennial Arena.
The administration’s senatorial ticket is composed of reelectionist Senators Pia Cayetano, Lito Lapid, Imee Marcos, Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., and Francis Tolentino; former senators Panfilo Lacson, Vicente Sotto III and Manny Pacquiao; Reps. Erwin Tulfo (PL, ACT-CIS) and Camille Villar (Las Piñas); Makati City Mayor Abby Binay, and former Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos.
In a statement, the Alyansa said the event “is expected to be a major show of force for President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr.’s administration, with its 12-member Senate slate making the case for continuity and stability under his leadership.”
“This is not just a campaign launch – it’s a reaffirmation of our commitment to build on the progress we have made under President Marcos Jr.,” Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco, the slate’s campaign manager, said.
He also said: “Ilocos Norte has always been a cradle of transformative leadership, and from here, we are sending a message: to continue delivering results for every Filipino.”
The Alyansa said that with its 434,114 registered voters, Ilocos Norte “remains a critical base for the administration, which is looking to leverage Ilocano unity to build momentum ahead of the midterms.”
“The people have seen the results of our leadership, and we hope to earn their support again,” Tiangco said. “We will bring our message of unity and development across the country, starting in Ilocos Norte.”
Tiangco said the President is expected to join the team’s 21 campaign rallies scheduled across the country.
After the kick-off in Laoag City, he said campaign sorties will be held in the Visayas and Mindanao during the first two weeks of the campaign.
“This campaign is bigger than politics. It’s about a Bagong Pilipinas — a new Philippines that every Filipino can see, feel, and take pride in,” he told reporters.
He said the administration lineup brings together “experienced legislators and reform-driven executives, ensuring that the administration’s legislative agenda continues beyond 2025.”
“This is a Senate slate that knows governance and delivers results. May kanya-kanyang track record at accomplishment ang mga kandidato ng Alyansa (Alyansa candidates have their respective track records and accomplishments),” he added.
DUTERTE ALLIES
Reelectionist Senators Ronald dela Rosa and Christopher Go will join the proclamation rally for
Kingdom of Jesus Christ pastor Apollo Quiboloy, who will run his senatorial campaign while detained at the Pasig city jail, at the Ynares Gym in Pasig City.
Dela Rosa and Go, who are known allies of former president Rodrigo Duterte, will join the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP) – Duterte wing at the Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan City on February 13 for their proclamation rally.
On his own, Dela Rosa will start his first day of the campaign period by attending a 12 high noon Mass in time for the fiesta celebration of the Our Lady of Lourdes at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in Quezon City.
He will then join the League of Municipalities general assembly at the Fiesta Pavillion in Manila Hotel at around 6 p.m., then proceed to Pasig City.
‘LENI MAGIC’
Former senators Bam Aquino and Francis Pangilinan will open their senatorial campaign in Dasmariñas, Cavite, aiming to revitalize the “Leni Magic” that swept the province in the 2022 elections.
Dubbed “A People’s Campaign Kick Off Rally,” the launch will be held at the Dasmariñas City Arena starting at 4 p.m.
Former Vice President Leni Robredo and Sen. Risa Hontiveros will attend the event, which will also be graced by showbiz personalities led by Pangilinan’s wife, actress Sharon Cuneta, and online influencers.
Cavite hosted Robredo’s two huge rallies during the 2022 presidential campaign. Around 50,000 supporters attended her first rally in General Trias, Cavite, where Robredo had to hitch a motorcycle ride to reach the venue on time.
Days before the election, Robredo returned to a mammoth crowd of around 100,000 during her “miting de avance” at the City of Dasmariñas Football Field.
Cavite is considered a major electoral battleground. It has the highest number of registered voters in Region 4A (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon) with 2,460,981. Calabarzon is the country’s top vote-rich region, with 9,761,170 million voters.
Before the kick-off rally, Aquino and Pangilinan, along with Robredo and their supporters, will attend a Holy Mass at the UP Parish of the Holy Sacrifice in Quezon City at 8:30 a.m.
WILBERT LEE
On the eve of the start of the campaign period, AGRI party-list Rep. Wilbert Lee withdrew his bid to seek a Senate seat in the May 2025 polls.
In an interview after filing his Statement of Withdrawal at the Comelec, Lee said the main reason for his withdrawal is the lack of time and machinery in running the campaign nationwide.
“I realized that we really lack the time and machinery to be able to reach the people and share our advocacy,” he said.
He also said his current performance in election surveys was another factor. “There are really several factors and that (winnability) is one of the factors we looked into,” he said.
“F or the past days, we had serious discernment, and this decision is the result of that discernment. While it’s a difficult decision, it is also a result of intense consultation with our leaders and supporters,” he added.
Comelec chairman George Garcia said they will no longer remove Lee’s name from the official ballots, noting that over 20 million ballots have already been printed by the National Printing Office (NPO).
“Although there will be 66 names listed in the ballots, because of the withdrawal of Rep. Lee, only 65 are official candidates. Votes for him will be deemed as stray votes,” Garcia said.
LAWFUL CAMPAIGN MATERIALS
The Comelec said that among those considered as lawful campaign materials are pamphlets, leaflets, cards, decals, stickers, or other written or printed materials the size of which does not exceed 8 1/2” in width and 14” in length; handwritten or printed letters urging voters to vote for or against any particular party or candidate for public office; posters or standees not exceeding 2 feet by 3 feet; and streamers not exceeding 3 feet by 8 feet in size, displayed at the site, and only on the occasion of a public meeting or rally.
Also allowed are campaign materials in mobile units and vehicles, whether engine or manpower driven or animal drawn, with or without sound systems or loud speakers and with or without lights; paid advertisements in print or broadcast media; outdoor and static or LED billboards owned by private entities or persons; mobile or transit advertisement on public utility vehicles; and signboard displayed in campaign headquarters.
ILLEGAL PROPAGANDA ITEMS
The Comelec reminded candidates that campaign materials displayed on LED display boards located along highways and streets, LCD monitors posted on walls of public buildings, and other similar devices that are owned by local government units, government-owned and controlled corporations, or any agency or instrumentality of the government are prohibited.
Propaganda materials are also now allowed in motor vehicles used as patrol cars, ambulances, and for other similar purposes that are owned by local government units, government-owned and controlled corporations, and other agencies and instrumentalities of the government, particularly those bearing government license plates; and public transport vehicles owned and controlled by the government, such as the Metro Rail Transit (MRT), Light Rail Transit (LRT), and Philippine National Railway (PNR) trains and the like.
It is also illegal to post campaign materials in waiting sheds, sidewalks, street and lamp posts, electric posts and wires, traffic signages, and other signboards erected on public property, pedestrian overpasses and underpasses, flyovers and underpasses, bridges, main thoroughfares, center islands of roads and highways, schools, public shrines, barangay halls, government offices, health centers, public structures and buildings or any edifice thereof; and within the premises of public transport terminals, owned and controlled by the government, such as bus terminals, airports, seaports, docks, piers, train stations, and the like.
MEDIA ADS
For broadcast political advertisements, national bets cannot have more than 120 minutes of television advertisement on a per station basis, and 180 minutes of radio advertising on a per station basis.
The maximum size of printed political advertisements for each candidate, whether for a national or local elective positions, meanwhile, is 1/4 page for broadsheets and 1/2 page for tabloids, which cannot be published for more than three times a week per newspaper.
As for outdoor campaign advertisements, national candidates cannot have more than two months of advertisement in a certain static or LED billboard and within a radius of one kilometer from each other.
The Comelec stressed that all propaganda materials must bear and be identified by the reasonably legible or audible words “political advertisement paid for,” followed by the “true and correct name and address” of the candidate or party for whose benefit the election propaganda was printed or aired.
Similarly, the Comelec said all election propaganda materials donated or contributed by any person to a candidate shall not be printed, published, broadcasted, or exhibited, unless they are accompanied by the written acceptance by said candidate or party. – With Wendell Vigilia and Raymond Africa
