Commission on Elections chief George Garcia —INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / RICHARD A. REYES
With the start of the official campaign period for the Oct. 30 village and youth polls still a month away, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) already has its hands full with candidates resorting to creative ways to introduce themselves to voters.
At least 626 candidates in the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections around the country have been ordered by the Comelec to explain why they should not be held liable for premature campaigning, with their faces and names printed in materials like care packages given out to voters and their families.
Comelec Chair George Garcia said that on Thursday alone, the poll body sent show-cause orders to 156 candidates found to have possibly violated the rule against early campaigning.
Garcia, in a Viber message sent to reporters, showed the list of erring candidates, mostly running for barangay and SK “kagawad” (council member) posts.
He said that should these candidates fail to respond to the show-cause orders within three days after confirmation of receipt, “we will proceed with the filing of (election offense) and (disqualification) cases.”
“At least, due process is complied with,” Garcia said, adding that none of these erring candidates had sent their reply as of Friday.
Among the violations that the Comelec had acted on was the case of five candidates in Barangay San Bartolome in Quezon City, who had their names and photos printed on the food and care packages distributed in the village.
Premature
The poll body, even before the election period started in July, has repeatedly warned aspirants that premature campaigning, or engaging in election activities outside the campaign period, is considered an election offense.
This includes government activities that can be misconstrued as electioneering, most commonly the distribution of “ayuda” (cash aid or food packages) by incumbent officials, even during the campaign period, on the eve of the elections and on Election Day itself.
Asked how voters can discern whether a sitting barangay or SK official has already crossed the line, Garcia, at a press briefing on Thursday, said: “First, they should determine whether it is a regular service of the barangay: Is it already a long-term social service project?”
The final list of barangay and SK candidates is expected to be released this month after the Comelec resolves all petitions.
Candidates will be prohibited from distributing campaign giveaways like shirts, fans, ballers, hats, umbrellas, bags, other small tokens and “anything of value,” based on a Sept. 4 memorandum released by the Comelec.
In the memo, Comelec executive director Teopisto Elnas Jr. also ordered local election officers to remove at once campaign posters in public places and properties not designated as common poster areas.
The Comelec, however, allowed candidates to campaign online during the official campaign period, from Oct. 19 to Oct. 28, but barred them from giving away gifts to audiences when they livestream their activities.