WORKERS inspect oversized and misplaced election tarpaulins at a metro parkway. — PHILIPPINE STAR/ MICHAEL VARCAS
By John Victor D. Ordoñez
THE COMMISSION on Elections (Comelec) risks fomenting social unrest if it appears to favor some candidates in this year’s elections, political analysts said at the weekend.
Delays and allegations of meddling in the disqualification case against the son and namesake of the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos and last week’s taking down of campaign posters sent off “disquieting signals” that it may have partisan interests, said Gerard V. Eusebio, a political science professor at De La Salle University.
“They should explain these actions very well to show and assure the people that they are still the constitutional body that we could totally rely on,” he said in a Facebook messenger chat. “Otherwise, social unrest could be in the offing.”
“Comelec’s role is crucial, and like Caesar’s wife should be beyond reproach,” Mr. Eusebio said.
On May 9, Filipinos are choosing the replacement of President Rodrigo R. Duterte, who is barred by law from running for reelection and is limited to a single six-year term.
The election body last week ordered law enforcers to take down oversized campaign posters of some candidates — including Vice-President Maria Leonor “Leni” G. Robredo, who is running for president — on private property.
Citizens can put up whatever size of posters inside their property because freedom of speech is protected by the 1987 Constitution, election lawyer Romulo B. Macalintal told an online news briefing no Thursday.
Candidates could sue the election body at the Supreme Court for abuse of power, he said.
Civic groups and former Comelec officials have criticized a Comelec order that limits the size of election posters even on private property to six square feet. Candidates are also barred from shaking hands, hugging, kissing, going arm-in-arm and having selfies taken with political supporters as part of health protocols amid a coronavirus pandemic.
Videos and photos of authorities taking down campaign materials of some candidates have since gone viral on social media.
Comelec’s handling of these controversies is crucial, Marlon M. Villarin, a political science professor from the University of Santo Tomas, said in a Viber message, noting that Filipinos are closely watching the institution.
Fairness in enforcing election laws would be a make or break situation for Comelec, he said. “These controversies should serve as a lesson and reminder that Filipinos are watching. Comelec must at all times remain nonpartisan to keep its integrity and credibility.”
Mr. Villarin said some media failed to report that oversized campaign posters of candidates from different political parties had been taken down.
Comelec did not single out any candidates during the seizures, spokesman James B. Jimenez said last week.
“It has always been part of the practice of Comelec to ask for permission to enter, even in the last couple of days,” he said. “We do not go invade private spaces or residences for the purpose of enforcing our rules.”
The agency would review its policies he added.
Comelec’s First Division this month rejected three consolidated lawsuits seeking to have Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr. disqualified from the presidential race.
Victims of the late dictator’s martial law regime have asked the Comelec en banc to reverse the division ruling, saying the former senator’s conviction for tax evasion involved “moral turpitude.”
In the ruling written by Commissioner Aimee P. Ferolino, Comelec said Mr. Marcos’s failure to file his tax returns in the 1980s, for which he was convicted for tax evasion a decade later, did not involve wicked, deviant behavior.
Retired Comelec Commissioner Maria Rowena V. Guanzon had accused Ms. Ferolino of delaying the decision so her vote for disqualification would not be counted. She also said a senator from Davao was trying to meddle in the case.
Ms. Ferolino has denied the accusation.
“I don’t think the Marcos disqualification case would tarnish the credibility of Comelec so long as the decision is based on hard facts and jurisprudence,” Mr. Villarin said.