Comelec Commissioner George Garcia. Image from Comelec / Facebook
MANILA, Philippines — Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner George Garcia on Monday said that there is a need to overhaul the existing election laws so that it would fit the changing times.
“I am not yet confirmed, I am appointed but just ad interim. But in the event, just in case, we have to change, overhaul the election laws presently. It’s 1985 circa,” Garcia said on ABS-CBN News Channel’s Headstart.
“We have to adjust to the changing times at the same time, how can you have an election law applicable for manual election when you are already computerizing the elections,” he pointed out.
Garcia said that mandating candidates to participate in debates should be included in the election laws.
“We have to overhaul. We have to even include the debates, whether national or local, we have to compel the candidates to appear and attend and maybe we can impose sanction,” he said.
The commissioner likewise said that an individual who filed a certificate of candidacy be immediately considered a candidate and not only when the campaign period starts.
“At the same time, we can say, ‘when you file your candidacy you’re already covered by the election law.’ Meaning under the present setup, when you file your candidacy, you’re not yet considered a candidate… You will only be considered a candidate on the first day of the campaign period,” he elaborated, noting that premature campaigning is not an offense.
Garcia also raised to change the campaign financing and revision of the partylist law.
According to Garcia, addressing the said concerns would prepare the country in the elections to come.
“So dapat po kumpletuhin na natin lahat (we have to complete it) so that by 2025 and then 2028, everything now is in order because we have now the laws, we’re just going to implement,” he said.