Friday, March 25 is the official first day of the campaign period for the local candidates for district representatives, governors, mayors, vice mayors and councilors. I said official because we know that those seeking the local elective positions had already been unofficially campaigning even before they filed their certificates of candidacy.
We should expect that by next week candidates will be knocking on our door saying, “Hello, I am candidate ...” That’s not unusual though because that’s the least expensive mode of campaigning and voters have the chance to personally meet the candidates.
And, we will see more tarpaulins, perhaps oversized, and posters of candidates hanging on the trees and posted on the walls or fences of private properties, which is outside the common poster areas authorized by the Commission on Elections (Comelec). Will the Comelec start removing the candidates’ tarpaulins and posters that violate the size requirement and are posted outside common poster areas?
Because of the indiscriminate removal of Vice President Leni Robredo’s posters somewhere in Luzon, her legal team filed a petition before the Supreme Court, which granted the restraining order directing the Comelec Baklas Team not to remove the candidates’ posters or tarps that are posted in private properties with the consent of the owners. Will that restraining order apply to the posters of all the national and local candidates? I think so.
The petition against the candidacy for president of former senator Bongbong Marcos is inconsequential to delay the May 9, 2022 polls. It’s only when the security of the state is at stake that the elections may be postponed.
Not even the continuing threat of Covid-19 could stop the general elections. Perhaps, the big question that comes to mind of every voter is, will we be safe from Covid-19 on election day? Perhaps, the lowering to Alert Level 1 of the country’s metropolis and some provinces and those Alert Level 2 places soon to be downgraded to Alert Level 1 is being done so that come election day the voters would not hesitate to go out and vote. But how free are we from the virus?
It’s an undeniable experience during every election day that voters, young and old and the persons with disabilities (PWDs), are cramped in polling places because ever since I became a voter, we’ve only had one day to cast our vote unlike in the USA where they have the advance voting days and mail-in voting. To name a few, India and Australia have already practiced voting via the internet, which is a big advantage for the PWDs and senior citizens. I don’t think we would ever experience internet voting with some candidates so suspicious about cheating.
All that the Comelec has so far announced on what to do on election day is for the voters to maintain physical distance and wear face masks. With our kind of mentality that’s always in a rush, I could only wish that all the voters would observe physical distance and wear the face mask properly. The Comelec should have personnel to supervise and impose the physical-distancing rule and the proper wearing of face masks on voting day.
The Comelec must also extend the time of voting beyond the allotted time if there are still voters queuing outside the polling places.
You know, I find some face-mask-wearing people funny, if not shameful, when they talk. It is because some of them remove their masks. We all know the purpose of wearing a face mask—to prevent one’s saliva from spreading while talking.