Comelec to monitor compliance to election rules

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Negros Occidental said it will strictly monitor the candidates’ observance of the poll body’s rules and guidelines, as the campaign for senators and party-list groups starts Tuesday.

"The camps of senatorial bets and party-list groups should make sure to secure the common poster areas in every towns and cities. Each town and cities have designated common poster areas," said lawyer Wil Arceno, provincial election supervisor.

He said the municipal and city election officers are under instruction to monitor the compliance by the candidates of the election rules and regulations.

According to Comelec Resolution 9615 on campaign rules and regulations, election propaganda allowed are:

* Pamphlets, leaflets, cards, decals, stickers or other written or printed materials the size of which does not exceed eight and one-half inches (8 1/2") in width and fourteen inches (14") in length;

* Handwritten or printed letters urging voters to vote for or against any particular political party or candidate for public office;

* Posters made of cloth, paper, cardboard or any other material, whether framed or posted, with an area not exceeding two feet (2') by three feet (3'); and

* Streamers not exceeding three feet (3') by eight feet (8') in size displayed at the site and on the occasion of a public meeting or rally. Said streamers may be displayed five (5) days before the date of the meeting or rally and shall be removed within twenty-four (24) hours after said meeting or rally;

Among the prohibited campaign practices are the following:

* Electronic announcement boards, such as LED display boards located along highways and streets, LCD TV displays posted on walls of public buildings, and other similar devices which are owned by local government units, government-owned and controlled corporations, or any agency or instrumentality of the Government;

* Motor vehicles used as patrol cars, ambulances, and other similar purposes that are owned by local government units, government-owned and controlled corporations, and other agencies and instrumentalities of the government, particularly those bearing red license plates;

* Waiting sheds, sidewalks, street and lamp posts, electric posts and wires, traffic signages and other signboards erected on public property, pedestrian overpasses and underpasses, flyovers and underpasses, bridges, main thoroughfares, center islands of roads and highways; schools, shrines, barangay halls, health centers, public structures and buildings or any edifice thereof;

* Public utility vehicles such as buses, jeepneys, trains, taxi cabs, ferries, pedicabs and tricycles, whether motorized or not;

* Within the premises of public transport terminals, such as bus terminals, airports, seaports, docks, piers, train stations, and the like. The resolution also provides the following provisions:

* Parties and candidates are hereby encouraged to use recyclable and environment-friendly materials and avoid those that contain hazardous chemicals and substances in the production of their campaign and election propaganda. In local government units where local legislation governing the use of plastic and other similar materials exist, parties and candidates shall comply with the same.

* All propaganda must "bear and be identified by the reasonably legible, or audible words "political advertisement paid for".

* It is prohibited "to post, display or exhibit any election campaign or propaganda material outside of authorized common poster areas, in public places, or in private properties without the consent of the owner thereof."

Arceno said that radio and TV stations will also be monitored, adding that their logs about the candidates’ ads will be checked.