Santiago to file bill curbing electioneering

MANILA, Philippines – With elections coming up in May next year, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago wants to ensure that all candidates would as much as possible be competing on a level playing field.

Santiago intends to file a bill that would curb electioneering or use of public funds to support the campaign of any individual.

The lady senator expressed her disgust over the early campaigning undertaken by some aspirants for the Senate in 2013, particularly those who are currently holding office.

Speaking before students and faculty of the Eulogio Amang Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology yesterday, Santiago said that it is time for the people to air their protest against the premature campaigning being done by some senatoriables.

Santiago criticized a 2009 Supreme Court ruling on the case of Penera vs. Comelec, which determined that premature campaigning is no longer an offense.

She said the decision created “a wretched loophole in the law” and as a result, several politicians have taken advantage of it to campaign way before the allowed period.

Based on a resolution of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), the campaign period for the May 2013 elections officially begins on Feb. 12, 2013 but Santiago noted that the “faces of several aspirants have started appearing all over the place.”

She said that they have become salespersons for all sorts of products such as make-up and food, the advertisements of which can be seen on print, radio, television and other media across the country.

“It might be legal but is it ethical? What kind of senator will a person become if he uses public funds to advertise himself, by purporting to advertise his agency? What kind of Senate will we have if it is dominated only by the rich who can afford to spend hundreds of millions on traditional media advertising?” she added.

In order to address this situation, Santiago said she will file a bill that will require all candidates to file a Certificate of Intention to Run for Public Office, or CIRPO, six months before the deadline for the filing of a certificate of candidacy.

The bill would prohibit any potential candidate from endorsing any product or service; accepting any employment in any media outfit; and buying any space on radio, print, or TV to advertise himself/herself or any product or service.

She said if the bill becomes a law, it would give the Comelec power to define what constitutes electioneering.