Limited face-to-face campaign likely in May 2022 polls, says Comelec official

An official of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) believes there will still be face-to-face campaigning in the May 2022 polls but with limitations.

Comelec Spokesman James Jimenez said they believe it will not be totally prohibited as many have no access to different methods of information delivery.

"Some of us can communicate through Facebook. But many just can't. I believe face-to-face campaigning cannot be taken out," he said in an online forum Sunday, May 23.

"What we will surely have are restrictions on ways to campaigning. If before, for example, there is no limit on handshaking, now there will surely be limits," added Jimenez.

He said candidates must make sure that they are responsible on their campaign activities so it won't turn into super spreader events.

Jimenez is also convinced that many candidates will campaign through social media as this is safer amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

He added that majority of Filipino youth also use Facebook, Twitter, among others.

"We think there will be more of them (youth voters) now. Definitely, many candidates will also tap those platform to campaign," said Jimenez.

"This is where the bulk of our youth are. In the last elections, 22 million were youth voters. So that is one-third of the voting population," he added.