CANDIDATES in next year’s elections are discouraged from campaigning during the observance of All Saints’ and All Souls’ days.
Lawyer Ferdinand Gujilde, Cebu provincial election officer, said that while posting campaign materials in cemeteries is not prohibited by election rules, doing so would be in “bad taste.”
“There is a proper time for everything,” he said.
Public cemeteries all over Cebu are expected to be packed on Nov. 1 and 2 as visitors pay homage to their deceased loved ones.
While some candidates may take advantage of the crowds for more political exposure in cemeteries during these dates, there have been no reported sightings of campaign materials posted in these areas so far.
“Campaigning will be in bad taste because it doesn’t belong to the occasion,” said Gujilde.
Under a Supreme Court ruling, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) can only consider bets as candidates during the campaign period next year and they have no jurisdiction over any kind of self-promotion they do before that.