CREATIVE | Light beams in support of Vice President Leni Robredo are tested as a campaign tactic in Baguio City. (MAGGIE FOKNO/CONTRIBUTOR)
BAGUIO CITY, Benguet, Philippines — Supporters of Vice President Leni Robredo here have created a new kind of campaign material that is not only innovative but also “baklas-proof” — that it, it can’t be taken down.
With the help of ordinary flashlights or makeshift light emitters, they have been projecting the name of the presidential aspirant on walls and other surfaces — a “light show” campaign similar to Batman’s bat signal.
According to lawyer Kaye Balajadia Liggayu, who spoke to the Inquirer on Monday, since messages delivered by light beams are not cited in any Commission on Elections (Comelec) resolution regarding the 2022 elections, they should not be illegal.
Liggayu is the coordinator of One Baguio-Benguet Robredo People’s Council (OBB-RPC), the umbrella group for 10 affiliated volunteer campaign organizations backing the vice president’s presidential bid.
The light show campaign in Baguio City is seen as a solution to legal stumbling blocks posed by campaign regulations.
Court petition
Liggayu said that last week, light-emitting devices developed by the University of the Philippines Artists’ Circle were tested in the city. Details about this initiative, however, were kept confidential to prevent the concept from being pirated.
Last month, some of Robredo’s supporters and volunteers asked the Supreme Court to declare as unconstitutional Comelec’s “Oplan Baklas” campaign which targeted “unlawful” campaign materials, even those posted within private property.
Among the election paraphernalia taken down by the poll body were oversized tarpaulins and colorful murals in support of Robredo and her running mate, Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan.
The petitioners asked the high tribunal to immediately issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) against Oplan Baklas, saying the operation was in violation of their constitutional rights to freedom of speech and expression, as well as their right not to be deprived of property without due process of law.
On Feb. 28, a Baguio Regional Trial Court judge stopped the Comelec from enforcing a resolution that required volunteers and supporters of political candidates to get permits for all of their campaign activities.
The 72-hour TRO issued by Judge Maria Ligaya Itliong Rivera was based on a lawsuit filed by Robredo supporters, including Liggayu, to determine their rights under the poll body’s Resolution No. 10732, which sets the guidelines for campaigning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a Feb. 16 letter to the OBB-RPC, the Comelec cited the resolution as its basis for requiring volunteers in the city to secure permits for each of their campaign activities, on top of complying with rules set by the local government.
Liggayu and the other petitioners, however, said the resolution should not apply to volunteers with no direct ties to or not under the supervision of candidates’ campaign teams.
During a hearing on March 2, the court extended the effectivity of the TRO from Feb. 28 to April 4.
“With this development, Comelec and (its Cordillera office) will not implement and enforce Comelec Resolution No. 10732 against volunteers and volunteer groups all over the Philippines until the prayer for injunctive relief is resolved,” Liggayu said in a text message.
Comelec lawyer Romeo Aguilar informed the court that he had been directed to transmit the complaint and the subsequent orders to the Office of the Solicitor General.
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