IT has been announced by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) that the first batch of disqualification cases against candidates in the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) involved in premature campaigning will be filed today.
From an initial 270 possible cases, further assessment by the poll body pruned the number of possible disqualification cases to 110, said Comelec Chairman George Garcia.
The poll body has warned BSKE candidates that promoting their advocacies and hanging posters ahead of the campaign period on October 19 would be considered premature campaigning. Chairman Garcia stressed that the campaign period for candidates of village and youth council polls is from October 19 to 29, and not immediately after the filing of certificates of candidacy from August 28 to September 2.
Garcia was emphatic when he issued a terse warning to all candidates. “When you file your candidacy, all the posters you have on the streets should be removed because we will sue you and we will remove them, and you can also be disqualified. Everyone who files a certificate of candidacy is not immediately allowed to hand out or campaign within his area.
Now that you are a candidate, Section 80 of the Omnibus Election Code, or premature campaigning, already applies to you,” he said.
‘The Comelec should be praised and supported in its campaign to strictly enforce the elections laws in the BSKE.’
Section 80 of the code says “it shall be unlawful for any person, whether or not a voter or candidate, or for any party, or association of persons, to engage in an election campaign or partisan political activity except during the campaign period.”
The poll body earlier said premature campaigning would also be treated as an election offense, and a candidate who disregards this would be liable for election code violations.
The Comelec adheres to due process as it starts legal sanctions on erring candidates with the issuance of show-cause orders. By the latest count, the poll body has issued 2,558 such orders to individual candidates and other local officials who are not candidates but have been found violating the law. Of this number, the Comelec has so far received responses from only 304 candidates.
He said many of the candidates who sent their response claimed that they did not put up the illegal campaign materials. Since mere denial is not a good or valid excuse, the Comelec said it will go ahead with filing DQ cases against candidates who submitted “unsatisfactory” explanations.
It is interesting to note that candidates in the barangay and Sangguniang Bayan elections are not the only ones being caught violating the rule on premature campaigning. Some sitting local officials are also suspect, since they hold political power in the localities and are usual backers of certain candidates.
Garcia stressed that charges will also be filed against local government officials who will interfere with and prevent election personnel from removing illegal campaign materials and serving show-cause orders. The poll body has committed to resolve pending DQ cases before election day on October 30.
The Comelec should be praised and supported in its campaign to strictly enforce the elections laws in the BSKE. Those seeking public office who had to take a vow of upholding the law should be the first ones to set the example.
