Sick of political ads? There’s more
The National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) expects the number of political advertisements to surge as the filing of Certificates of Candidacy (COCs) nears.
“The surge in political ads may be attributed to improving their positioning and name recall, as well as to improve their stocks for campaign donations for their candidacies,” Eric Alvia, Namfrel Secretary-General, said in an interview.
He said the political ads also aim to test the sentiment of the public regarding a person's planned candidacy.
Shame campaign
To help counter premature campaigning, Alvia urged the public to join the shame campaign of Namfrel by sending pictures or videos of political ads to the “Politikong Pampam” Facebook page while also using Twitter with the hashtag ‘#pampam’.
“Pampam” is a word play on “papansin” (attention seeking).
The poll watchdog group accredited by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) launched the shame campaign last July against overeager politicians engaging in premature campaigning due to the loophole in the election laws that allow politicians to advertise themselves without being penalized for early campaigning.
Alvia is hoping that the said campaign will discourage would be candidates from further coming out with political ads.
“Most candidates are sensitive to their image and public opinion rather than doing what is right and ethical,” he said.
Comelec ‘powerless’ A 2009 ruling by the Supreme Court (Comelec vs Penera) ruled out any offense on early campaigning.
The Comelec has repeatedly said it is powerless against premature campaigning since Republic Act 9369 or the Poll Automation Law provides that “any person who files his certificate of candidacy (COC) shall only be considered as a candidate at the start of the campaign period” and that “unlawful acts applicable to a candidate shall be in effect only upon that start of the campaign period.”
“Given no teeth of the law, public can call attention or join in the shame campaign of these national and local would be candidates, most especially incumbents,” he said.