Comelec cautions bets on early campaigning

MANILA, Philippines -  The Commission on Elections (Comelec) warned candidates yesterday that although early campaigning is technically legal, their propaganda materials on television, print, radio and the Internet can be considered as election expenditures that winning politicians must report before they will be allowed to assume their posts.

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez told reporters during a news forum in Quezon City that the poll body has tapped civic groups and media, and mobilized its citizens’ arms, to monitor early campaigning by both local and national candidates.

“Technically, early campaigning is legal but we are monitoring propaganda materials of candidates in all media,” he said.

Jimenez said the poll body has signed a memorandum of agreement with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) that winners in the local levels cannot assume their posts unless they submit reports of their election expenses.

Coordination is also being made with the House of Representatives and the Senate to require winning senatorial and congressional candidates to submit their election expenses before taking their respective seats in the upper and lower chambers.

He said the Comelec would set up a computerized database of all reports on early campaigning which will be compared with the documents submitted by the winning candidates.

The poll official said they would deputize “anti-epal groups” as citizens’ arms to monitor and report candidates who are openly campaigning even before the campaign period starts.

He said all media, including the Internet, will be monitored. Any website that will post campaign propaganda will be considered as election expenditure.

Jimenez also warned candidates that early campaigning might backfire on them, as people may get tired of their improper campaign strategies.

Aside from the poll body, he said the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) would also be watching the candidates’ expenditures, which is subject to withholding tax.

Meanwhile, Comelec will start screening on Monday the “unknown” senatorial aspirants who filed their certificates of candidacy (COCs) during the five-day filing period this week.

Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes said they would be sending notices to these candidates for a hearing at the poll body.

“We will decide motu proprio. We won’t wait for petitions for disqualification to be filed against them. It’s easy to spot them – they are not known. You can see it on their COCs,” Brillantes said.

At least 84 COCs for senators were filed before the Comelec. Of the number, nine were from the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL); eight from United Nationalist Alliance (UNA); three each from Liberal Party (LP), Nationalista Party (NP), Democratic Party of the Philippines (DCP) and Ang Kapatiran Party; two from the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC); one each from Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP), Partido ng Demokratikong Pilipino-Laban (PDP-Laban), Makabayan, Social Justice Society (SJS) and Akbayan.

Brillantes said they intend to come up with the lists of qualified candidates for all elective posts by the end of December because they want the printing of ballots to start in January next year.

He said those who plan to file petitions for disqualification against certain candidates may do so “within five days” after the end of the period of filing of COCs, or from Oct. 6 to 10.