Solon raises concern on Comelec plan to ban face-to-face campaign for 2022 polls

A House member on Wednesday expressed apprehensions on the plan of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to prohibit face-to-face campaigning for the 2022 elections as the country still struggles with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Negros Occidental Representative Juliet Ferrer, who chairs the House committee on suffrage and electoral reforms, said that while it may be too early to decide on the Comelec's plan, face-to-face campaigning is one way for the voters to know the candidates.

"Voters must be able to know the qualifications and platforms of candidates so that they can decide on who they will vote for. Face-to-face campaigning is one of the modes to disseminate this information," Ferrer told GMA News Online in a text message.

"Social media is not available to all and other media platforms would probably be too expensive," she also said, adding that there is the great danger of fake news and disinformation without a face-to-face campaign.

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez told ANC on Tuesday that they are concerned that the COVID-19 pandemic would not be over by the time the campaign season for the 2022 elections begins.

"We are particularly concerned about face-to-face encounters between campaigners and the public because that's where your spread is going to happen," he said.

"It won't matter how COVID-safe the actual election day is, if campaign pa lang people are already spreading the virus through careless and irresponsible acts," he added.

In any case, Ferrer said health protocols must be put in place to ensure the safety of the candidates as well as the voters themselves during the campaign period.

For his part, Bayan Muna party-list Representative Carlos Zarate said banning face-to-face campaigns would only be favorable to rich candidates and further disenfranchise poor candidates and voters.

"If face to face campaigning would be prohibited, candidates would have to rely on online and media ads campaigning which is very expensive and and only the rich candidates can afford that," Zarate said in a separate statement.

"If this happens then the next elections will just become a contest for the rich and famous while  more Filipinos are disenfranchised," he added.

Zarate urged the Comelec to reconsider its plan and still allow face-to-face campaigns with proper health protocols.

"As the election period draws closer with the October filing of candidacies and with the COVID-19 vaccines rollout supposedly to start this month, we expect that these campaign restrictions and guidelines will also be disseminated soon," he said.—AOL, GMA News