Comelec ”cannot do anything” to stop premature campaign spending

February 18, 2019

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) Monday said it is powerless to stop premature campaigning ads amounting to P2.4 billion.

In an interview, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said they cannot do anything to prevent spending before the campaign period officially starts.

“Unfortunately, we cannot do anything about it,” said Jimenez.

“All these happened before the campaign period. This is premature campaigning. The Comelec only checks (expenses) during the campaign period. This is what we have been pointing as a loophole in the law,” said Jimenez.

The poll official said massive pre-campaign ads spending can easily be curbed if it is declared illegal.

“Once premature campaign is declared illegal, they will be minimized. But as of now, they are just free to do anything and spend for any political advertisements,” said Jimenez.

In a report by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), the combined pre-campaign ad spending of 18 senatorial candidates on TV, radio, print, and outdoor ads have reached P2.4 billion from January 2018 to January 2019.

Of the P2.4 billion, 12 senatorial candidates under the Hugpong ng Pagbabago-Partido Demokratikong Pilipino (HNP-PDP-LABAN) banner and endorsed by President Rodrigo Duterte have a combined spending of P1.32 billion.

Found to have the biggest spending of ads with P422,498,647 is allegedly former presidential aide Christopher Lawrence ‘Bong’ Go. DMS