Changing the arena: PH elections amid the COVID-19 pandemic
By Alexandra Kate Ramirez and Christel Castro
As the 2022 national elections draw near, the impacts of the ongoing pandemic are likewise becoming more prevalent. From the candidates’ platforms down to their campaign spending and methods, the threat of COVID-19 considerably shifted the playing field as never before in the Philippines’ political landscape.
Game changer
Since the country has yet to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic, the upcoming 2022 elections are bound to witness significant differences in several aspects such as the voter registration process, the filing of the certificate of candidacy (COC), and even down to campaign strategies.
“It is an election like no other because the rules of the game must change, the method of campaign will have to change. We can’t do face-to-face, I mean you can’t do a big crowd, rally, and so there’s a lot of reliance on social media as a campaign platform which is difficult for Comelec to compute in terms of campaign expenses,” Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Rowena Guanzon said during the #MagparehistroKa virtual town hall meeting last July 8.
The poll body previously said in February that it was eyeing to ban face-to-face campaigning for the 2022 elections and promote online campaigning instead to ensure the safety of voters against COVID-19. Nevertheless, Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez assured that the Comelec will be coordinating with the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) on the subject.
Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate, however, expressed his concern over the Comelec’s proposal to suspend the usual campaigning method, as it may serve the interests of rich candidates, ultimately subjugating poor contenders.
“We strongly urge the Comelec to seriously reconsider this prohibition plan and still allow face-to-face campaigning, with the proper health protocols since we are still under a pandemic,” Zarate said in a statement.
Pushing limits
With 213 affirmative votes, six negative votes, and one abstention, the House of Representatives approved House Bill №6095 on third reading last June 2020. The bill sought to amend provisions of Section 13 of RA 7166 or An Act Providing for Synchronized National and Local Elections and for Electoral Reforms, Authorizing Appropriations Therefore, and for Other Purposes.
The bill enables the candidates for president, vice president, and senators to spend up to P50 per voter, an amount five times higher than the P10 per voter set by RA 7166. Meanwhile, other candidates’ spending cap will increase to P30 per voter, which is 10 times higher than currently allowed. Political parties are also granted a raise in spending cap, with P50 per voter for national candidates and P30 for local candidates.
Senator Imee Marcos also filed a separate bill, Senate Bill №810, which aims to increase allowable campaign spending of presidential and vice-presidential candidates, asserting that the measure will reduce the number of protests involving overspending, under-reporting, and even nuisance candidates.
Consequently, Senator Aquilino Pimentel III and Senate President Vicente Sotto III noted that it would be too favorable for rich candidates and practically disqualify the poor ones, respectively.
“My interpretation, you have an upper limit on your expenditure and you can choose to place this in ads, you can choose not to place this in ads. So no matter the per minute, per second cost, it’s the candidate’s decision to spend his campaign fund,” said Pimentel during the Senate’s plenary session.
The Comelec announced last July that it is looking at regulating social media as part of the candidate’s campaign expenses since it might become a key player in the coming elections. On this account, Guanzon is hoping that experts could help the body with monitoring social media expenses.
Mockery of the system
The Comelec ended the period of withdrawals and substitutions for candidates in the 2022 elections on November 15. The period of withdrawal and substitution began after October 8, the last day of filing the COC.
On November 13, two days before the deadline of withdrawals and substitutions, the placeholders of Lakas-CMD withdrew their candidacy and paved the way for Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte Carpio to file her COC for vice president.
Consequently, Senator Bato Dela Rosa and Senator Bong Go also withdrew their candidacy for presidential and vice-presidential bids. However, Go proceeded to file his candidacy for president as the substitute of Grepor Belgica under the Pederalismo ng Dugong Dakilang Samahan (PDDS).
The process was scrutinized as the political analysts and observers deemed it as a mockery of the electoral process of the country. Poll watchdog Kontra Daya challenged Comelec to declare those accused of being placeholders as nuisance candidates to void their substitutions.
“Kontra Daya strongly denounces [this] mockery of election rules… The disastrous political spectacle these past few weeks could have been avoided if Comelec declared as nuisance candidates those who were clearly placeholders,” the group stated.
Meanwhile, Comelec spokesperson Jimenez declared that the Comelec cannot do anything unless Congress passes a law that prohibits the substitution of candidates.
Under the law, any candidate can withdraw their participation in the elections any time before the election day. On the other hand, substitutions can be made on the grounds of death, disqualification, and withdrawal of the candidate. Only the candidates who belong to a political party have the capacity to withdraw and present a substitute.
Premature campaigning
Earlier this year, the Comelec released a calendar of activities detailing all the events leading to the Philippines’ local and national elections on May 9, 2022.
The campaign period for candidates for national positions, which includes the president, vice-president, senators, and party-list groups, starts on February 8, 2022, until May 7, 2022. On the other hand, the campaign period for candidates for Member House of Representatives and elective regional, provincial, city, and municipal officials will start on March 25, 2022, until May 7, 2022.
Kontra Daya convenor Danny Arao expressed his group’s aversion against candidates who are prematurely campaigning already despite the start of the official campaign period. The group also urged the Comelec to exercise its authority over these candidates.
“Dapat kino-call out ng Comelec itong mga maniobra para ’yung mga aktibidad ng gobyerno, halimbawa, ay nahahaluan ng pulitika,” Arao said as he mentioned that some candidates use vaccination drives to promote their candidacies. “Bagama’t hindi ito ground for disqualification, dapat i-call out pa rin sila kasi they are making a mockery of the process.”
Arao also pointed out that the Comelec should not maintain its conservative stance on the Omnibus Election Code regarding the issue of premature campaigning.
In July 2021, Jimenez stated that some politicians’ activities may be tantamount to premature campaigning, it is not punishable by law. Jimenez emphasized that the Comelec can only regulate the actions of the politicians at the start of the campaign period where they are considered as official candidates.
Jimenez expressed that premature campaigning is not something that is legally actionable and based on the 2009 Penera doctrine, an individual who files his candidacy will only be considered as a candidate at the start of the campaign period.
The Comelec started monitoring candidates on October 1 to know how much they are spending.
