The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has issued a show cause order against an aspirant in Bacolod City for Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) in October, City Election Officer lawyer Kathrina Trinio-Caña said Friday, September 22.
Trinio-Caña said the show cause order was issued by the Comelec National Task Force against premature campaigning on September 20, which was relayed to the Comelec Provincial Office, then to the Bacolod poll office to serve the order.
She said the candidate, whose name is being withheld, was given three days to answer the show cause order.
She added that the candidate was found posting campaign materials within their barangay.
Trinio-Caña said the Comelec task force will evaluate the answer of the erring candidate and then make its recommendation.
“Maybe there was a complaint filed against the candidate, and possibly he or she may face disqualification in October’s elections,” she said.
She added that Comelec is very serious about penalizing candidates who are not following its guidelines in terms of premature campaigning.
Trinio-Caña stressed that this will serve as a warning to other candidates to observe the schedule of the election campaign to avoid penalties.
The election campaign period for BSKE will run from October 19 to 28.
“For now, all candidates are prohibited from premature campaigning; otherwise, they can be disqualified based on the ground of premature campaigning as an election offense,” Trinio-Caña said.*
