This is the entrance of the office of the Comelec in Mandaue City taken on October 11, 2023. | Mary Rose Sagarino
MANDAUE CITY, Philippines — More than 50 candidates for the upcoming Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections in Mandaue City were issued show cause orders for alleged premature campaigning.
Lawyer Anna Fleur Gujilde, election officer of the Commission on Elections in Mandaue City (Comelec-Mandaue), said that the candidates were asked to answer the complaints through an email that would be sent directly to the law department of the Comelec central office.
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Tarpaulins to promote candidates
Gujilde said that the premature campaigning mostly involved tarpaulins to promote them.
The complaints against the candidates were sent online directly to the Comelec central office and the Comelec-Mandaue was only tasked to serve the order, she said.
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Penalty for premature campaigning
The Comelec said premature campaigning would constitute an election offense that would provide a penalty of disqualification or one to six years imprisonment and that would be under the Omnibus Election Code.
Even if they win the election, they cannot assume office, said Gujilde.
“Ongoing pa ang investigation. Patubagon pa siya (candidates) for due process. Dinha pa mo-deliberate ang Manila, law department, if file-an ba siya og kaso or not. For now, fact-finding pa,” she said.
(The investigation is still ongoing. They will be asked to reply (candidates) for due process. Only then (when the candidate will reply) will Manila, law department, will deliberate on it if a case will be filed or not. For now, it is just fact-finding.)
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Candidates asked to explain
“(Unod sa show cause), murag kuan ba convince us nga why no petition for premature campaigning shall be filed against you. Ingun ana, if ma-defend nila, i-dismiss,” she added.
([What the show cause contains], it’s like convince us on why no petition will be filed for premature campaigning against you. That is how it is done, if they can defend their action, then the petition will be dismissed.)
Gujilde is encouraging candidates to not be engaged in premature campaining to avoid penalties and wait for the election campaign period on October 19 to 28. The election day is on October 30.
Gujilde said anyone who had any objection about premature campaigning might also complain directly at the City Prosecutor’s Office.
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Petitions at Comelec in Mandaue
Aside from premature campaigning, Gujilde said that there was also a petition against a nuisance candidate and a petition for disqualification against a candidate who allegedly had a relative, who was an incumbent official.
Under the Republic Act No. 10742 or the SK Reform Act of 2015, candidates should not be related within the second degree of consanguinity or affinity to any incumbent, elected national official or to any incumbent regional, provincial, city, municipal or barangay official in the locality where they are running.