WHAT is the point of designating an “election period” different from a “campaign period”?
The “election period” for the coming midterm elections on May 23 officially began last Sunday, January 13. From that day until June 12, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said, candidates are banned from unauthorized use of bodyguards and use of private armies. Government offices are banned from transferring employees in the civil service and suspending elective officials. The Comelec itself is banned from altering or creating new precincts.
The Comelec also starts setting up checkpoints because the election period also includes a gun ban, the carrying of firearms outside the home even if one has a permit to carry a firearm issued by the Philippine National Police.
On the other hand, the “campaign period” begins February 12 for candidates with a national constituency – for senators and for party-list congressmen. The campaign period for local candidates, such as governors, mayors, and district congressmen, begins March 29.
But many candidates have long been campaigning in total disregard of these designated periods. A Supreme Court decision in 2013 pointed out that there is no law against premature campaigning as RA 9369 provides that “unlawful acts or omissions applicable to a candidate shall take effect only upon the start of the aforesaid campaign period….”
Posters and tarpaulins are beginning to appear in the nation’s streets, bearing some official’s portrait above a message congratulating the people on their town fiesta or wishing everyone a happy holiday. Projects are being inaugurated, surveys are being led, opinions of all kinds are being offered by some noted personage who happens to be running for office.
The Comelec has repeatedly reminded the candidates that the campaign periods have not yet begun, but no one seems to mind the ongoing ribbon cutting, private opinion surveying, and poster posting. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has warned against such acts as nailing posters on trees, but this is because this is a violation of environmental laws.
There may be a need to clear up all the laws and regulations to put order and reason in Philippine elections. There is need to ban premature campaigning in the interest of leveling the playing field, as rich candidates are now able to make themselves more visible than poor ones. The present law certainly needs revising.
Actually, campaigning in the Philippines is a year-round affair. The campaigning to look good begins on day one of the term of office. There is nothing wrong with doing one’s duties well in a manner that the constituents will appreciate and may reward with reelection.
There is just a need to reinstate the law against premature campaigning. And there is need to simplify matters like distinguishing an “election period” from a “campaign period,” each one with its own set of bans. All the prohibitions during one definite period at election time may well be stated in one simple law.
