Campaign for local bets starts Saturday

MANILA, Philippines - With three days left before the start of the campaign period for local candidates in the May 13 mid-term polls, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is bracing itself for aspirants who will try to evade stricter campaign rules.

Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes said they are expecting local candidates to be more stubborn when it comes to adherence to the rules on campaign posters and common poster areas.

“Let us be vigilant once the local campaign period starts. There, we will see more troublesome candidates,” he noted.

The 45-day campaign period for the local polls was supposed to start on March 29, but since this falls on Good Friday when campaigning is prohibited, the Comelec had moved the date.

The campaign period for senatorial bets and party-list groups started last Feb. 12.

The campaign period for all candidates ends on May 11.

Up for grabs in the local polls are 233 House of Representatives seats; 80 each for governors and vice governors; 766 provincial board members; 143 each for city mayors and city vice mayors; 1,598 city councilors; 1,491 each for municipal mayors and vice mayors and 11,932 municipal councilors.

Synchronized with the coming polls is the regional election for governor, vice governor and 24 assemblymen of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Brillantes has urged candidates to remove their propaganda materials, which will be considered unlawful when the local campaign period begins.

The past year had seen the mushrooming of Epal streamers of officials who took advantage of all occasions like Christmas, Valentine’s Day, fiesta, and graduation to promote their faces and names to the public.

According to Comelec Law Department director Esmeralda Ladra, the poll body has been documenting unlawful propaganda materials of candidates, especially those seeking re-election.

When the local campaign period starts, she said that Comelec teams would be inspecting these areas to check if the illegal materials are still there.

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez added that concerned candidates face possible disqualification from the elections, as unlawful campaign posters constitute an election offense.

Jimenez also reminded local bets that using government structures and vehicles for the campaign is illegal.

“This is particularly relevant in the local arena, since many incumbents are running again. So they better make sure that their names are not on government vehicles,” he added.