Comelec to enforce social media campaign rules

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is strictly implementing campaign regulations, including those on social media.

“The fact that these regulations are imperfect should not be taken as a signal by the people or by the concerned individuals to take them lightly. So we will be enforcing the rules and we will be fighting for their implementation throughout the entire campaign,” James Jimenez, Comelec spokesman, said.

He added that mechanisms have been set in place for candidates to report their spending on the use of social media during the campaign.

Jimenez added that the Comelec has informed Facebook and other social media platforms about the campaign regulations.

“Having seen how 2013 turned out, it will be negligent for us to not even try this. We are going to try and it is going to be difficult. There are going to be challenges along the way but we are not going to do this alone and we are going to have help anyway,” Jimenez pointed out. 

Jimenez also called on voters not to vote for candidates who refuse to comply with campaign regulations.

But Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. does not believe in the political influence of social media.

“People consult it for entertainment and information but never for political decisions like who to vote for. It is a myth,” Locsin said on Twitter.

The so-called social media President Duterte won in 2016 because the former Davao City mayor “offered something when the others didn’t offer anything specific in their bromides,” Locsin explained.

Locsin said Duterte did not just win the election in the ballot but also on Facebook. – With Pia Lee-Brago