Comelec asked to see if Pacquiao's fight violates election rules

Former Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello has formally requested the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to see how the campaign limits on airtime would apply to the upcoming fight of boxing icon and Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao, who is running for senator.

Bello, himself a senatorial candidate, filed the petition at the Comelec main office on Monday, days after he said Pacquiao's April 9 fight against Timothy Bradley gives him "undue advantage" against other senatorial candidates. 

Comelec chair Andres Bautista earlier said they will look into this situation once a complaint is filed with the poll body. 

In his petition, Bello said, "Bearing in mind the stature of Mr. Pacquiao as a boxer, and his previous boxing bouts which were covered widely by the media, the scheduled bout will surely give him extensive media exposure."

With this, he said Pacquiao "should be required to go on leave" from professional boxing during the campaign period.

Income, exposure

Bello said the fight will be covered both by local and international media, where Pacquiao's bid for Senate "will most likely be discussed, or even subject of any interview or coverage," which he said is a violation of Section 6.4 of the Fair Elections Act.

He suspected that Pacquiao must have known that the fight will be a month before the May 9 elections, and agreed to enter into it.

Further, he said Pacquiao is bound to earn "a lion's share of the income," and that the promo of the fight may be likened to product endorsements that get a candidate both money and exposure.

Limitations

In the petition, Bello cited the implementing rules and regulations for the 2016 elections, which prohibits the showing, display, or public exhibit through the theater, television, or any public forum of "any movie, cinematography, or documentary, inclduing concern or any type of performance portraying the life or biography of a candidate, or in which the character is portrayed by an actor or media personality, who is himself or herself a candidate."

"Section 9 of the IRR sets down clear and detailed requirements and limitations on the use of election propaganda through mass media... The Commission has gone to great lengths to provide for these rules which sets (sic) not only requirements but limitations as well; so there is no doubt as to its intention to equalize access to media time and space in order not to give undue advantage to those who may have no limits to the resources it can access to gain media exposure," he wrote.

He added that the Comelec must have anticipated situations "where media coverage and advantage may be an issue," as is the case in the upcoming Pacquiao-Bradley bout.

Pacquiao currently ranks among the top 12 senatorial candidates in pre-election preference polls conducted by survey agencies Social Weather Stations (SWS) and Pulse Asia.

He recently saw himself under scrutiny for an allegedly offensive comment against members of the LGBT community.

No factual basis

Meanwhile, to Pacquiao's defense, noted election lawyer Romulo Macalintal said there is no legal nor factual basis to disqualify Pacquaio for senator and described Bello's petition as "merely speculative and premature."

"It is speculating an alleged exceeding of authorized limit in print and broadcast ads. To date no one cud tell how many minutes could be treated as political ads because  the fight and promotion have not even started yet," Macalintal said in a statement.

"Furthermore, there ia no legal ground to disqualify Pacquaio because a petition for disqualification is one which refers to a candidate's lack of any of the qualifications required by the Constitution or conviction of an election offense for violating election laws," he added.

Macalintal said Pacquaio "has all the qualifications for senator so he can't be disqualified on this ground." —KBK, GMA News