COMELEC ‘ALLOWS’ EARLY CAMPAIGNING FOR MAY 14 POLLS
Comelec guidelines to allow campaigning even before official campaign period, but warns candidates on posting of materials in non-designated areas
Candidates running for this month’s Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections will not be charged for premature campaigning even if they start doing so before the campaign period.
This after the Commission on Elections (Comelec)’s Law Department released an advisory stating that premature campaigning will not be prohibited in this barangay and SK elections.
But election officials warned that even if the rule against premature campaigning has been scrapped for this month’s election, they can still penalize candidates who violate the Fair Elections Act, such as by posting campaign posters and signs outside of the designated common posting areas.
In her advisory signed on April 24, Comelec Law Department director Maria Norina Tangaro-Casingal said premature campaigning during the barangay and SK elections cannot be applied.
Casingal cited Section 80 of the Omnibus Election Code and Comelec Resolution 10294 as basis for the decision.
Section 80 of the Omnibus Election Code states that it is “unlawful for any person, whether or not a voter or candidate, or for any party, or association of persons, to engage in an election campaign or partisan political activity except during the campaign period.”
In a separate interview, Cebu Provincial Election Supervisor Lionel Marco Castillano said those who started posting their campaign materials before the formal campaign period from May 4 to 12 will not be penalized for premature campaigning.
But he warned that even though they are safe from being sued for premature campaigning, candidates can still be sued for failing to post their campaign materials only in designated common posting areas.
Castillano said he has instructed local election officers to take pictures of campaign materials posted in areas outside the designated common posting areas and send letters to the candidates in question to have them remove within three days.
Failure to remove campaign materials constitutes an election office and could be punishable by disqualification, Castillano added.