WE are again seeing and experiencing the effects of the Supreme Court ruling that effectively erased the concept of premature campaigning from our country’s election system when it decided that a person can only be considered a candidate for election during the campaign period provided for in our election law.
One of the effects is the dilution of the rule on campaign spending limit. The campaign spending limit is supposed to level the competition field among the candidates as it effectively disables the more moneyed candidates to have the advantage of having more expensive campaign program.
Given such Supreme Court ruling, the three-peso limit for each candidate with party nomination, for example, no longer makes much sense because the reference period will just be the campaign period.
When one adds the amount many candidates spent for what were obviously campaign activities and actions prior to the campaign period, like television, radio and social media advertisements, concerned candidates will end up spending more than the limit allowed by law.
These candidates also earned for themselves an advantage over other candidates who have lesser resources.
Our government system and even our Constitution provide for the power of the Supreme Court to issue such ruling, which has the effect of a law.
Technically, we can say now that our law provides advantage to moneyed candidates or provides for an uneven competition field in our elections.
While the Supreme Court is the “court of last resort” and its decisions effectively have the value of being laws, the principle of checks and balances among the three main branches of our government should be put into action to address what is obviously an undesired effect of the Supreme Court’s decision. The other two branches of our government – the Executive and Legislative branches – can act on this matter.
Specifically, the Philippine Congress, i.e. the House of Representatives and the Senate, with the approval of the President, can pass a law that will qualify a person who submitted a Certificate of Candidacy as a candidate as soon as the Commission on Elections rules that same person is qualified to run in the elections.
The new law should also clarify that all candidates are required to observe prohibitions and limitations provided for in other election laws such as the cap on the campaign spending.
(To be continued)
