MANILA, Philippines (Updated) — The Supreme Court has temporarily stopped the implementation of Commission on Election’s (Comelec) Oplan Baklas.
“The Supreme Court, during its en banc deliberations today, March 8, 2022, issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and Comelec Director and Spokesperson James Arthur Jimenez in connection with the poll body’s Oplan Baklas,” the Supreme Court said in a statement.
Comelec Resolution No. 10730 provides for common poster areas where election propaganda materials can be installed. Posters and tarpaulins may also be posted in private properties as long as there is a consent from the owner.
The same Comelec Resolution also set the allowable measurement for posters. The resolution stated that a violation of the campaign material requirements shall be “stopped, confiscated, removed, destroyed or torn down by Comelec representatives at the expense of the candidate or political party.”
Property owners who are supporters of presidential candidate Vice President Leni Robredo took their case to the Supreme Court after the Comelec, accompanied by the police, destroyed election materials on their own properties.
The petitioners insisted that the poll body has no legal basis to regulate their political views considering that they are private citizens and these were manifested within their private properties.
Petitioners argued that “Comelec had no legal basis to regulate expressions made by private citizens. Respondents cite the Constitution, laws, and jurisprudence to support their position that they had the power to regulate the tarpaulin.”
The Supreme Court gave the Comelec 10 non-extendible days to comment from receipt of notice.
Petitioners welcomed the high court’s temporary restraining order.
“We are grateful that the Supreme Court appreciated the strength of the legal basis of the Petition, and immediately issued a TRO,” says Atty. Ray Paolo J. Santiago, lead counsel and Executive Director of the Ateneo Human Rights Center.
He said the TRO is “timely since we barely have 2 months before the May 9 elections. It allows the exercise of free speech and expression at this time of a political exercise. The right of the people to campaign for their chosen candidates will become moot without a TRO. The TRO demonstrates how much fundamental freedoms, such as speech and expression, are protected under our 1987 Constitution.”
Meanwhile, election law expert Atty. Romulo Macalintal said the restraining order is “a great development and victory for the candidates who do not have enough funds to sustain a nationwide campaign and rely only on help and support of volunteers.”
“In this election 2022 where, for the first time, people from all walks of life are the ones spending for their candidates, the SC TRO will certainly give poor candidates a strong fighting chance to level the playing field in the political arena since it is now the private citizens who would do their own share in ensuring that we elect only honest and competent leaders with the utmost integrity. I salute the SC for coming up with such a much-needed injunction at this most opportune time to safeguard people’s right of suffrage,” Macalintal said in a statement.
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