Celebrities not exempt from premature campaign ban

MANILA, Philippines — Celebrities-turned-politicians who remain active on television and in the movies will not be given exemptions once the Commission on Elections (Comelec) enforces the ban on premature campaigning for the May 2025 midterm polls.

“The Comelec will stand firm that those who will file their certificates of candidacy (COC) this October will immediately be considered as candidates. Whatever are the prohibitions, it will be applicable to all,” Comelec Chairman George Garcia said yesterday at a press briefing.

He added, “We will presume that all those who filed their COCs as engaged in premature campaigning when they do it before the campaign period.”

The Comelec early this month bared its plans to enforce anew the ban on premature campaigning for the elections in May next year.

The Comelec chief said they are confident they won’t be questioned on this matter before the Supreme Court (SC) since it will be similar to what happened in the 2023 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE).

“Hopefully, with the support of the people, nobody will question us,” Garcia said.            

Under the Poll Automation Law, “any person who files his certificate of candidacy shall only be considered as a candidate at the start of the campaign period” and that “unlawful acts applicable to a candidate shall be in effect only upon the start of the campaign period.”

This provision was affirmed by the 2009 SC case of Peñera vs. Comelec, which resulted in the removal of premature campaigning as an election offense.

However, the Comelec implemented the ban in the 2023 BSKE, saying the rule only applies to electoral exercises using the automated election system.

According to data released by the Comelec yesterday, a total of 1,527,939 new voters have already registered from Feb. 12 to March 21 for next year’s elections.

Calabarzon has the highest number of applicants with 279,449 followed by the National Capital Region with 228,929.

The Comelec said Cordillera Administrative Region recorded the lowest number of registrants with 17,560.

The poll body earlier said it expects around three million to apply as registered voters during the registration period.

Garcia again urged Filipinos not yet registered to apply for voter registration as soon as possible.

Voter registration for the 2025 midterm polls started last Feb. 12 and will run until Sept. 30, 2024.