No such thing as ‘premature campaigning’: Comelec

MANILA – There is no such thing as “premature campaigning”, an official of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said on Friday.

Commissioner Antonio Kho, Jr. said politicians who appear on television, among others, cannot be considered as doing a political campaign.

“It’s like this, there is no such thing as premature campaigning, legally speaking. The Supreme Court has ruled on that, premature campaign. Let us say, today, we’ve seen a politician, local officials or national official on TV, etc., we cannot consider that to be a political campaign because he is not yet a candidate. So there is nothing wrong with that,” the poll body official said.

This, as some incumbent government officials are already appearing on various infomercials on television less than a year before the May 9, 2022 elections.

Under the law, those who filed their Certificates of Candidacy (COCs) will only become candidates at the start of the campaign period.

Based on the Calendar of Activities for the May 2022 National and Local Elections (NLE), earlier released by the Comelec, the filing of the COCs for national and local candidates will be from October 1 to 8.

National candidates or those running for presidential, vice presidential, senatorial and party-list seats, are required to file their respective COCs at the Comelec main office in Intramuros, Manila.

Those running for the positions as members of House of Representatives and regional, provincial, city and municipal officials should file their COCs at the local Comelec offices in the city or municipality they intend to run.

The campaign period for national positions will start on February 8, 2022 until May 7, 2022 or 90-days before the scheduled elections.

On the other hand, local candidates are allowed to campaign 45-days before the May 9, 2022 polls or starting from March 25, 2022 to May 7, 2022.