Comelec may compel bets to attend debates

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is eyeing a resolution that will require candidates to attend debates in order to help voters make informed choices in the May 12 polls.

“It is the candidates’ obligation to follow Comelec’s rules and regulations. Therefore, we can issue a resolution that will compel them to attend the debates we are endorsing,” Comelec Chairman George Garcia said in a radio interview yesterday.

Garcia cited as an example their rules on the submission of pictures, sizes of campaign materials and registration of social media accounts that candidates were able to comply with.?

“There is no law that can compel candidates to attend (debates), but we can try that by making it part of our rules,” Garcia stressed.  

The poll chief pointed out that organizing or hosting debates should be left to media organizations, but under the supervision of and in coordination with the Comelec.?

“It is better if we choose our candidates based on their thoughts, stands and emotions on certain issues, which can be learned through debates. We shouldn’t just simply vote but we should vote wisely,” Garcia said.

Local absentee voting

Meanwhile, local absentee voting (LAV) for the midterm elections will be held on April 28 to 30, the Comelec announced.

Based on Resolution No. 11091, the Comelec set the LAV to accommodate government officials and employees, members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Philippine National Police (PNP), as well as members of the media who will be on duty on election day. The poll body said all applications for LAV may be filed not later than March 7, 2025.

For government officials and employees and members of the AFP and PNP, they may file their applications with their heads of offices/ supervisors/ commanders/ officers/ next-in-rank.

For members of the media, they may file their LAV applications at the Office of the Regional Election Director-National Capital Region for those in Metro Manila; Office of the City Election Officer for independent cities outside Metro Manila and Office of the Provincial Election Supervisor for areas not mentioned above.

LAV is a voting system that allows qualified individuals, who are assigned to perform election duties on election day, to cast their votes ahead of the general public. However, only the positions of senators and party-list organizations can be voted by those applying for LAV.

Based on Comelec data, there were a total of 84,358 registered LAV voters and 74,846 actual voters under the LAV (88.72 percent voter turnout) during the May 2022 polls.

Pending appeals

With the Comelec set to resume printing of ballots on Monday, a party-list group disqualified to run but with a pending appeal at the Supreme Court (SC) has urged the poll body to include it and other disqualified aspirants in the official ballot.

In a press statement, Ating Guro-Teachers Dignity Crusade (Ating Guro-TDC) said the Comelec should learn from the delays caused by SC’s issuance of temporary restraining orders in order to avoid wasting more taxpayers’ money. The SC, however, will reportedly no longer issue TROs on disqualification cases.

Copyright issues

Meanwhile, the Comelec signed a memorandum of agreement with the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines yesterday to verify whether candidates who are using popular songs as campaign jingles secured permission from the artists.

According to Garcia, the move is meant to protect artists’ intellectual property rights.

“This is a warning to all those who are using (campaign jingles): think or come up with your own songs and don’t just use anyone’s composition unless you asked permission from the artist,” he said.