Just a day after Commission on Elections (Comelec) spokesperson James Jimenez flagged a “misleading” press release from the camp of former senator and presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., he said on Thursday, Nov. 4 that "misleading" articles are sometimes part of campaigning.
"Well, hindi ko naman ho masasabi na talagang it goes all the way up to the chief of staff. I mean meron naman siyempreng campaign machinery (Well I cannot say that it actually goes all the way up to the chief of staff. I mean, there is of course a campaign machinery)," he said in an interview on DZMM Teleradyo.
"Maybe some writer down the line thought that that’s the good way of writing it. Baka gusto niya ganun ang framing para makakuha ng atensyon, makakuha ng likes whatever (He or she must have wanted that kind of framing to gain likes, attention, or whatever)," he added.
Jimenez mentioned that sometimes as part of their campaign, candidates would release "misleading" articles.
"Pero pero part naman talaga ng kampanya kung minsan na naglalabas sila (candidates) ng misleading na articles. Kailangan lamang syempre sa ating mga botante, kailangan maging mapanuri lang po sila (It's really a part of campaigning that they release misleading articles. Voters on the other hand, of course need to be vigilant)," he explained.
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A PR also on Wednesday was released by Marcos Jr. 's camp which sought to invalidate the petition filed against him to cancel his certificate of candidacy. Jimenez was quoted in the PR saying that the disqualification case filed against the presidential candidate had "no clear basis".
"Yes. The PR is misleading. The quote was referring to why Senator Marcos hadn’t yet been disqualified despite the fact of his conviction. The original quote should have been taken in the context of the fact that the Senator ran for VP In 2016. That quote was not intended in any way as a comment on the current petition recently filed," Jimenez told reporters
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He clarified that during the time of the interview, no petition was filed yet against the presidential candidate.
Asked on whether this same argument can be used by Marcos Jr. 's camp against the petition he answered: "Hindi ko masasabi because live case ito eh (I cannot tell yet because this is a live case). It could be unwise for me to speculate on that. But of course, all of these facts will be raised in defense."