MANILA — Commission on Elections (Comelec) spokesperson James Jimenez on Friday urged the electorate to be vigilant against candidates in the upcoming May 14 Barangay (village) and Sangguniang Kabataan (youth council) polls who will violate campaign laws.
“If they don’t listen, I hope you lose and I hope those who know how to respect the law will win,” said Jimenez in a press conference on the first day of the election campaign.
He believed that voters should not support candidates who have questionable actions.
“I think it’s time the public should stop being neutral about these people if you see bad behavior. If you see behavior that you would not approve of in someone that you know, why would you approve of that behavior in someone who presumes to be your leader, they should not ignore that,” Jimenez said.
He noted that the public should be more discerning in choosing candidates and let it show through their votes.
“Very importantly, we should not have double standard. It is because we are supporting a candidate, we will let him violate the law. A violation is a violation whoever committed it,” Jimenez said.
“If he is your candidate, being your cousin or your brother, you should be the one telling him that what he is doing is wrong, make an effort,” he added.
He also advised voters to look at the character of the aspirants, their background, and track record, among others.
“Let us look at the character of the one who is running, we should also look on what he had offered especially in the aspect of serving the people in your community,” he said.
“We should not only depend on how well we know the candidate, his family, or he was your schoolmate. I mean these are good things that we should probably consider, but these are not the only things,” added Jimenez, noting that “critical thinking is critical at this period.”
The campaign period officially started on Friday, where candidates are allowed to promote themselves in the areas where they are seeking to be elected.
At the same time, he reminded the candidates that they are only allowed to spend PHP5 per voter.
The campaign period will run until Saturday, May 12.