Campaign period for local candidates start on March 25 - COMELEC

Aspiring local government officials may only be called an official candidate come March 25, at the start of the local campaign period, said an official of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Misamis Occidental.

In a COMELEC briefing on pertinent resolutions, provincial election supervisor, Atty Carlito Ravelo explained that under Republic Act (RA) 9006 known as the Fair Election Act, the official campaign period for candidates for members of the house of representatives, provincial, city and municipal officials will start on March 25 and will end on May 7.

Meanwhile, candidates for President, Vice-President, Senator and Party-List groups participating in the party-list system of representation commenced its campaign period on February 8 to end on May 7 as well.

There is prohibited campaigning. According to Atty. Ravelo, no campaigns are allowed during Maundy Thursday, April 14, Good Friday, April 15, Eve of Election Day, May 8 and Election Day, May 9.

He said, there are various election propaganda that a candidate can utilize. Lawful election propaganda includes paid advertisements in print or broadcast media and social media posts. However, he advised the political candidates to be wise in spending their money for ads.

A TV or radio or even social media ad may be more effective than a print ad, he said.

Authorized expenses of candidates and parties have a threshold. Atty. Ravelo said, for President and Vice President, they can only spend P10 for every registered voter.

Candidates with political party can spend P3 for every voter currently registered in the constituency where the candidate filed his certificate of candidacy. Meanwhile, candidates without any political party and without support from any political party can spend P5 for every voter registered in the constituency where the candidate filed his certificate of candidacy. Lastly, political parties and party list groups are allowed at P5 for every voter registered in the constituency as well.

Ravelo shared that there have been so many candidates in the past who were guilty of overspending, although they do not have immediate sanctions, the effect of that is disqualification in the future elections.

COMELEC also reminded the candidates to only use authorized common poster areas for posting campaign materials. There will also be no posting in public places such as publicly owned electronic announcement boards owned by local government units, GOCCs and other government agencies. This also includes patrol cars, ambulances and vehicles bearing red plates. (JMOR/PIA10)