Comelec to limit candidates’ TV, radio exposure

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) plans to limit the television and radio exposure of all candidates for next year’s elections.

“The Comelec intends to come out with guidelines on airtime and my proposal is to give only an aggregate 120 hours,” Comelec Commissioner Christian Robert Lim said.

Speaking at the forum “Campaign Finance Rules: Strengthening Enforcement and Compliance” organized by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, Lim said the poll body is also working on various strategies to monitor and limit election spending.

Lim said the Comelec intends to link up with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to verify the income and expenses of candidates. He said the Comelec and BIR might sign a memorandum of agreement to monitor compliance and ensure that erring candidates would be penalized.

Under a resolution passed by Comelec, Lim said candidates would be required to submit a report of all election-related expenses, including payment for venues and Internet usage, among others, 30 days after the elections.

He said media entities and advertising companies would also be required to submit a report on the airtime used by the candidates.

Lim said they would also pursue legislative measures to ensure monitoring of campaign expenses upon the filing of the certificate of candidacy, and a law that would set a more realistic ceiling of election expenses.

He said existing rules allow candidates to report their expenses at the start of the campaign and they are allowed to spend only P3 per voter.

“The amount is no longer realistic at this time because the peso has a different value from 1991 when the law was enacted,” Lim said.