ELECTIONS 2022 are still months away but the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is already planning the preparations and various platforms for the electoral exercises.

One is the ban on face-to-face campaigning by the candidates who have to talk to the people or voters.

Atty. Gregorio Lardizabal, a former Comelec commissioner, says it would be a great disadvantage to new entrants in politics as they are not that widely known, compared to the incumbents or the established politicians. Plus, the latter have the means or resources to stage a massive information campaign through unlimited use of social media platforms.

This would put the Comelec in a tight situation: would it permit candidates to come closer to voters, in the face of threat from Covid-19?

Some church official opined that if the face-to-face campaign is banned, the election contest might as well be a popularity contest, meaning only the prominent politicians would be recognizable by the electorate.

Famous candidates will have the name-recall advantage over the relatively unknown ones. In the Philippine politics, name recall gives the prominent candidates the huge advantage of winning in the elections.

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I have read the paid ads of Atty. Eligio P. Mallari on SunStar over their contested properties in the City of San Fernando which proceedings have lasted for decades but which, until now, are still being contested.

I admire Atty. Mallari's determination to achieve his goal for justice, as far as their properties are concerned.

I have met him during my stint as legal officer at the Provincial Adjudicating Board in 1991 at Barangay Del Pilar, San Fernando. Since then, I perceived him to be thorough and well-prepared in cases he has handled before the Parab.

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The preparations for the arrival of the vaccines in the country must be better in order to avoid wastage of public funds. If I know the Filipin psyche, there would be the agawan at palusutan, that no one wants to be outsmarted in the acquisition of the precious doses. The authorities must be on guard for people who are re