Arlene Brosas
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) should reconsider requiring candidates to get permits for in-person campaigns and motorcades as the government’s current pandemic guidelines should suffice.
Gabriela Womens Rep. Arlene Brosas said the guidelines set by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) were enough to enforce minimum health protocols in election-related activities.
“In seeking to regulate campaign activities, Comelec is dangerously treading on regulations of free speech and free assembly, which occupy a preferred spot in the hierarchy of civil liberties,” she said on Friday.
In a statement, she added: “IATF guidelines are already in place to ensure mobility restrictions and health protocols. We think these are enough. There is no need for a campaign permit system.”
Brosas was referring to the Comelec’s requirement that candidates get a campaign permit for in-person campaigns and motorcades.