By Glazyl Y. Masculino
BACOLOD City – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) here has appealed to candidates of the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) to follow the election laws on campaigning.
Just last week, the Comelec central office issued a show cause order to a candidate here after being accused of premature campaigning.
Atty. Kathrina Trinio-Caña, city election officer, stressed that premature campaigning is strictly prohibited at this time.
“Bawal kampanya subong, otherwise puwede sila ma disqualify based on the guidelines on premature campaigning which is an election offense,” she said.
Caña said that the campaign period is only allowed from October 19 to 28.
Caña said that even before the filing of the Certificates of Candidacy (COCs), they had seen several posters in various areas here.
She urged the candidates to remove the posters before the Comelec conducts the “Oplan Baklas.”
“Kung kami makuha, considered confiscated na na, indi na nila mabawi and we will have it reported to the Department,” she said.
She said that posters seen in public places or even in private properties even if with permission from the owners, should be removed by the candidates as this is a violation of the election law.
She said the Comelec will conduct the “Oplan Baklas” before the campaign period, but these posters cannot be retrieved anymore by the candidates as these will be considered confiscated election materials.
