Palace clarifies vax rule on indoor campaign activities

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang yesterday clarified that the Alert Level 1 rule requiring proof of full vaccination for those who will enter indoor venues for events related to the May 9 elections only covers pre-election activities.

Under the guidelines for Alert Level 1 areas, persons aged 18 years and above will be required to present proof of full vaccination before joining mass gatherings or entering indoor establishments, including venues for election-related events.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) had previously said unvaccinated individuals would be allowed to cast their votes unless disqualified by law.

“As it stands now, what it covers are pre-election day, election-related activities,” acting presidential spokesman Karlo Nograles said at a press briefing.

Nograles added that the government’s pandemic task force is continuously coordinating with the Comelec to come up with additional protocols and procedures that would ensure the safe conduct of elections.

“Again, this is also in fulfillment of our respect to the Comelec as an independent constitutional body. The conduct of the election is within its jurisdiction,” he said.

Areas that are under Alert Level 1 starting today until March 15 are Metro Manila; Abra, Apayao, Baguio City and Kalinga in the Cordillera Administrative Region; Dagupan City, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union and Pangasinan in the Ilocos region; Batanes, Cagayan, City of Santiago, Isabela, and Quirino in Cagayan Valley; Angeles City, Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Olongapo City, Pampanga and Tarlac in Central Luzon; Cavite and Laguna in Calabarzon; Marinduque, Puerto Princesa City, and Romblon in Mimaropa; and Naga City and Catanduanes in the Bicol region; Aklan, Bacolod City, Capiz and Guimaras in Western Visayas; Siquijor in Central Visayas, and Biliran in Eastern Visayas.

Mindanao areas that will be under the most relaxed alert status are Zamboanga City in the Zamboanga peninsula, Cagayan de Oro City and Camiguin in Northern Mindanao, and Davao City in the Davao region.

More than 62 million Filipinos have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 while some 10 million others have availed themselves of booster shots.

Campaign guidelines

Even if Metro Manila and 38 areas are now under Alert Level 1 until March 15, the Comelec yesterday said there would still be no changes in the campaign guidelines.

“As far as everything else is concerned in the campaign, we are already at minimum health protocols, we are doing the barest minimum necessary to keep everyone safe,” Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said.

He added that even if the alert level has been downgraded, they intend to keep the allowed venue capacity at 70 percent.

“Nothing can be relaxed in that aspect, except the number of people allowed to enter the venues. It maxes at 70 percent. We want to keep (the number), still don’t want to do 100 percent. Obviously, there’s still a pandemic, it’s just Level 1,” he added.

Jimenez admitted that the use of the face shield during the campaign remains to be the “biggest issue” for the poll body, but they have made it clear that its use would be voluntary.

“Under the IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases) rules, Alert Level 1 still includes the voluntary use of face shields,” he said.

As of yesterday afternoon, the Comelec had not received any request to amend the guidelines for the election campaign.

“In the meantime, we are still not in receipt of any formal requests to relax our guidelines, so we will continue with our guidelines as they are. The guidelines are calibrated, anyway. It’s responsive to changes in the alert level set by the IATF,” he said.

Dashboard

As the May 9 elections draw near, Vote Pilipinas, the Comelec’s official voter information campaign partner, has launched a dashboard containing the profile and other information about the 10 presidential candidates and nine vice presidential candidates.

The information about the candidates can be viewed on Vote Pilipinas’ website https://votepilipinas.com.

Information included in the dashboard are each candidate’s platform and policy; major accomplishments; any legal actions or court proceedings that he or she had previously faced, such as electoral protest, petition for disqualification or criminal charges, among others; assets, liabilities and net worth; campaign details, such as his or her campaign managers, alliances and endorsers and party affiliation history; major donors; major advocacies and personal details.

Jimenez gave assurance that Vote Pilipinas is neutral and non-partisan, and that the information on its website is fair, truthful and verified.

Vote Pilipinas described itself as a “non-profit, non-partisan online and offline information campaign aimed at mobilizing Filipinos to register to vote for the 2022 national and local elections.”

“Vote Pilipinas is the official voter information campaign of the Commission on Elections. Partnered with Smart Communications and other private groups, Vote Pilipinas encourages the Filipino people to vote wisely in the 2022 elections via online and onsite strategies,” the group said on its website. – Evelyn Macairan, Elizabeth Marcelo