Senators praise Comelec regulation of online campaigns for Eleksyon 2022

At least two senators on Monday welcomed the Commission on Elections' (Comelec) regulation of Eleksyon 2022 candidates' expenses for online campaigning, adding that it would be fair for both poor and rich poll candidates.

"It's about being officially a candidate which is upon filing of the COC (certificate of candidacy). That's fair to everybody, especially those who have less campaign funds to use for campaign ads," Senator Panfilo Lacson said in a statement to reporters.

"Definitely a welcome development since it won't put the administration candidates at an advantage since they are always presumed to have more than enough resources at their disposal," he further said.

In another statement sent to Senate media, Senate President Vicente Sotto III called it a "good move" since candidates with billions of funds for campaigning online will be "straitjacketed."

Marcos 'perplexed'

However, Senator Imee Marcos cautioned against the poll body's regulation of candidates' social media expenses upon COC filing in October, adding that it will be in "violation of existing laws and jurisprudence."

"The campaign period is very well-defined, which is 90 days from the day of election for national candidates and 45 days for local candidates. The SC also decriminalized premature campaigning," Marcos said.

"To consider expenses of those who filed COC in October is to say that they are already candidates, which is not the intent of our laws &  may have serious implications later on," she added.

Senators were reacting to  Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon's remarks quoted in a Philippine Daily Inquirer report. She said Comelec will create rules to compute the social media advertisements of candidates as online campaigning will be rampant, especially during the COVID-19 crisis.

As of June 22, the Comelec recorded at least 60 million registered voters for Eleksyon 2022. Of the number, 58,231,612 million are existing registered voters, 1,226,412 million are newly registered voters and 816,183 are turning 18 years old on election day, which makes them eligible to vote in May 2022. — BM, GMA News