Nailed to trees

If Chairman George Garcia of the Commission on Elections could have his way, he would hammer a nail into candidates who nail their campaign materials to trees.

“You cannot violate the environment,” the Comelec chief said.“Kung sila naman kaya ang pakuan namin?”

That’s just wishful hyperbole on the part of the Comelec chief, of course.

But Garcia admitted irritation at the increasing proliferation of campaign materials and the sight of candidates’ images posted on every available space.“Kung minsan nakaka-irita na, nakikita natin yung mga pagmumukha nila nakalantad lahat diyan.”

Even more irritating for the head of the constitutional body in charge of elections, however, is its helplessness in going after the early campaigners.

The Supreme Court, ruling on petitions, has defanged the Comelec, declaring that there is no such thing as premature campaigning, even after certificates of candidacy have been filed. This shows that Filipinos’ comprehension problems are more serious than we thought.

In another case, the SC ruled that the Comelec cannot enforce size limits or prohibit the display of campaign materials on private property. So if the private owner of a building or multi-use complex who supports a candidate covers the building with the bet’s campaign materials, the Comelec can’t touch it. Space on the private property can also be sold by the owner for political advertising. Or if a private person or entity decides to display massive posters on his/her property lambasting certain candidates, the display is protected by freedom of expression.

Garcia argues that the right invoked in election campaigning carries with it certain responsibilities.

“It’s not an absolute right, it’s a privilege that is subject to regulation,” he told “Storycon” on One News last week.

The Comelec will start taking down campaign materials displayed in public spaces only three days before the start of the official campaign period for national positions on Feb. 11 and for local posts on March 28.

Garcia warns that candidates who refuse to cooperate may face charges for violating the Fair Elections Act. If found guilty, a candidate may be permanently disqualified from running for public office and imprisoned for up to six years.

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The Comelec chief also admits near-helplessness in preventing campaigning through social media, especially the use of vloggers and influencers instead of clear-cut advertisements.

How do you even define an “influencer,” Garcia asks. I guess he’s referring to a legal definition, in the context of election campaigns. Where do you draw the line between “influencing” and expressing a personal opinion on candidates? For Garcia, this type of political campaigning seems “impossible” to regulate.

Two social media giants have informed the Comelec that they would not be accepting political ads for the 2025 elections. Another socmed platform said it would accept such ads, but there would be open access to its ad library.

The campaign against online disinformation and other malicious content at least is advanced, with socmed giants led by Meta constantly on the lookout for coordinated inauthentic behavior on its platforms including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

Garcia is hoping for legislation to strengthen the power of the Comelec to regulate election campaigns.

Politicians should support this effort, which could drastically reduce the cost of election campaigning. The problem here is that crooks in politics also typically have the biggest war chests, and see the high cost of running an election campaign as a factor that works in their favor against rivals with modest means.

Philippine elections are also major conduits for large-scale money laundering – the reason why all campaign finance reform proposals have as much chance of being passed in Congress as the constitutionally mandated enabling law against dynasties.

Enforcing rules on environment-friendly campaigning seems more doable for the Comelec.

Garcia reminds candidates that people are turned off by the sight of campaign materials polluting the environment. Your constituents are not pleased with you, he told the candidates.

If he pushes through with his threat to pound nails into such candidates, there will be no shortage of volunteers eager to do the work.

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REPAIRED, AT LAST: Over five weeks after a driver dozed off at the wheel and smashed his car head-on at my vehicle, my company-issued car was finally released from the repair shop last Thursday.

The wait for repairs took four weeks. The actual repair took just a week – exactly as estimated by three auto shops that I had canvassed before I entrusted the repair to the sleepyhead driver of the other car.

Those were five weeks during which I had to scrounge for other cars I could borrow. I couldn’t use many of my short cuts for avoiding traffic because the borrowed cars lacked the needed vehicle stickers.

I should have a second car, but I’m not in a spending mood after a third of my nest egg was dropped into an investment black hole by AXA Insurance Corp. My account is supposed to be “parked” following the loss, but I’ve just found out that I’m still paying a monthly premium to AXA for life insurance. I’m writing off the loss and will be closing the account shortly.

See why I’ve soured on anything that smacks of insurance (except for my burial arrangements), and to financial investments even by French giant AXA.

Maybe I should run for public office, so I can afford multiple cars (and have my image plastered on trees and lampposts). Even if I lose, running for election can be simply for “the fund of it.” Maybe during the campaign, I can put together enough funds – undeclared, untaxable, unaudited income – to buy my own car.