THE recent Tarlac incident where a local candidate spanked a Comelec official who took down his over-sized campaign posters is decidedly unfortunate.
The Comelec has vowed to probe the incident and sanction the lawyer-candidate and even seek his disbarment if warranted. It better does so or it will merely strengthen the growing impression that it is powerless and inutile against abusive candidates.
This impression stems from the Comelec’s seeming inability to effectively enforce among candidates its simple rules on campaign materials’ sizes and common poster areas, despite its constitutional authority to deputize any state agency to enforce its rules to maintain public order.
For certain reasons, the oversized campaign posters that triggered the Tarlac incident seem pervasive. One Manila journalist friend who visited Cabanatuan City recently told me about the oversized campaign posters strung on the steel fence of the old Provincial Capitol along the city’s main Burgos Avenue which is not a common poster area.
Of special interest too in Cabanatuan is the common poster of incumbent City Mayor Jay Vergara who is running for Vice Mayor, and his daughter Myca, his mayoralty candidate. Their size-compliant posters proliferate on electric posts of the Vergara family-owned power firm, and along barangay streets outside the Comelec-designated common poster areas, prompting local folks to ask whether such does not violate Comelec rules. The local Comelec office is housed at City Hall.
As in Metro Manila, candidates’ motorcades are common events in provinces which worsen local traffic problems and noise pollution. The Comelec has appealed to candidates to avoid blocking narrow streets with their motorcades, and be more considerate of the people’s desire for better public order. There are public parks where such activities are better held. These issues, however, fall under local governments’ jurisdiction.
Vote-buying seems now rampant in many areas. Wild talks abound that local officials are given millions of pesos by wealthy senatorial bets to ensure their convincing wins. Needless to stress, vote-buying politicians are untrustworthy. Unfortunately, many Filipinos see vote-buying as a modern way of wealth redistribution.
Likewise rampant is how supposedly non-partisan barangay officials actually serve as campaign leaders of candidates. How come the Comelec also seems powerless to stop this practice?
We regard government officials we elect as leaders and models. When candidates mindlessly break Comelec rules, what kind of leaders and models do we get?
