MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health on Monday urged candidates for next year’s elections to avoid holding campaign sorties that will result in overcrowding.
“We are again appealing to officials and candidates to avoid holding gatherings and events that we know will cause overcrowding and might cause infections in the coming days or weeks,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in Filipino.
The DOH made the remark after the visit of presidential candidate Bongbong Marcos in San Jose City, Nueva Ecija drew large crowds.
“Christmas is approaching so we hope we can keep the number of cases low so we can have a happy Christmas,” Vergeire said.
Daily cases in the Philippines have declined, with the DOH reporting 543 new coronavirus infections on Monday.
The Commission on Elections set the campaign period from February 8 to May 7, 2022 for national positions; and from March 25 to May 7, 2022 for members of House of Representatives and local positions. Candidates, however, are already holding activities ahead of the official campaign period.
According to a guideline issued by the Comelec, handshaking, hugging and kissing and other similar activities are strictly prohibited during in-person campaigning as the country continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.
Any form of physical contact during in-person campaigning is a violation of the Omnibus Election Code, which could lead to the disqualification of a candidate to hold public office.
Crowding around candidates and their companions for face-to-face campaigning is also banned as this violates the protocols set by the government for social gathering. — Gaea Katreena Cabico