Within a week, certificates of candidacy will be filed for the 2025 midterm elections. This early, however, campaign materials have sprouted all over the country, displayed in government property as well as electrical poles and trees, with the candidates openly courting votes.
The Commission on Elections has been defanged by the Supreme Court in preventing premature campaigning. But there are laws and local ordinances that can and must be applied to regulate at least the display of campaign materials before and during the official campaign period. The rules on common display areas for such materials during the official campaign period must apply.
There are environmental rules that can be used to stop the posting of campaign materials on trees. Hanging campaign streamers from utility wires must be prohibited at all times. All local government units have ordinances against littering and damage to property, which can be applied against candidates who display campaign materials on the walls of public schools and other government buildings as well as bridges and other public infrastructure.
For that matter, there must be laws expressly prohibiting government officials from displaying in public spaces and structures materials that are clearly intended for self-promotion. Why should any public official have the right to display in public spaces materials in which he or she greets the people a merry Christmas, for example, or happy graduation day or fiesta celebration? In some cases, the holiday greetings are kept in place all year round. It’s worse when such self-aggrandizing materials are bankrolled by taxpayers. Such materials can be displayed by anyone only in his own private property.
Even public service announcements must bear only the name of the agency. People outside government must pay hefty amounts for outdoor advertising, and the areas where such ads are allowed are strictly regulated. Why should politicians and other government officials be allowed to promote themselves in public spaces, for free?
There are existing laws and rules that can be applied to prevent this anarchy in the display of self-promotional materials. National officials and local government executives should lead by example in playing by the rules. And the Comelec must find ways to stop the anarchy.