Delicadeza

It’s time for the conclusion of the academic year and schools are now busy with their commencement exercises. Since it is election season, closing rites will become favorite venues for those running in the May 13 polls.

In fact, many of these candidates --because they are mayors, governors, and congressmen-are normally invited as guest speakers to such school activities, where it will be a big opportunity for them to give the audience a glimpse of their political agendas.

Can such an act constitute illegal campaigning and therefore a violation of the election code? As far as the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is concerned, there’s no law that bars political candidates from speaking at graduation ceremonies.

However, for lawyer Jerome Brillantes, acting Cebu provincial election chief, candidates should show a degree of propriety or “delicadeza” when invited to closing rites in schools. What he seemed to mean is that these candidates should not take advantage of the occasion to solicit votes from the audience.

“We have no basis for prohibiting candidates… it’s only a matter of showing delicadeza whether candidates would want to meddle on these school activities,” he said, “there is no election offense committed by the candidates if someone invited them as guest speakers. It’s up to DepEd for their guidelines. They are allowed… There is no prohibition provided by the law prohibiting them to be guest speaker.”

Political candidates should not taint the sacredness of graduation rites in schools. Yes, they can always attend in the absence of a school policy banning poll bets from such events. But that should not give them the license to interact with the audience in a bid to gain their votes.

It’s unfortunate, however, that many candidates would choose to go below the belt by the seizing the moment to campaign. For them, being invited to graduation rites is a precious opportunity to display their political platforms.