Bill seeks to ban premature campaigning

Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—A bill  seeking to prohibit a candidate  or “prospective” candidate from appearing or guesting in commercials, movies  and radio and television  programs one year before the  start of the campaign period has been filed in the Senate.

Senate Bill 3386, authored  by Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, seeks to amend Sections 79, 80 and 81 of Batas Pambansa Bilang 88,1 otherwise known as the  Omnibus Election Code of the Philippines.

Under the  bill, the following acts will be  considered premature  campaigning, which  is an election offense:

• Endorsing any product or service  whether for a fee or not
• Appearing  in any  infomercial, documentary or movie
• Guesting in any television and  radio program “except for purposes  of legitimate news coverage”
• Accepting any employment in any media outfit as a news anchor or writer or regular talent
• Buying any print, radio, television or internet space to advertise him/her-self or ay product or service

The  bill,  if approved into law,  will be  applied to a candidate , who has filed his  or her candidacy, and to a “prospective” candidate or a person aspiring for or seeking an elective office “whether  or not he or she has explicitly declared his/her intention to run as a candidate in the immediate preceding elections.”

“Any person, whether a candidate or prospective candidate, may be held liable under this section for the acts committed within one year before the start of the campaign  period. Provided however the candidate should have actually continued with his/her candidacy,” it said.

“Provided further, the prospective candidate who engaged in an election campaign or partisan political activity to promote his/her intended candidacy  should have subsequently filed his/her certificate of candidacy and actually continued with his/her candidacy,” it further said.

Santiago, in her explanatory note of the bill, noted that some wealthy senatorial bets have started taking out campaign advertising in  both traditional  and social  media.

“Some ‘senatoriables’, who  are  either incumbent elective  or  appointive  officials,  are  even  using  public  funds  to  advertise  themselves  under  the guise of infomercials,” she said.

“On the other hand, to be popular, some political aspirants are appearing or guesting in movies, commercials and radio and TV programs,”  she further said.