The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has acknowledged the statement of President Duterte that they should give the candidates the "space" to conduct political campaigns.
"Sang-ayon po kami diyan at katulad ng nababanggit na natin before papayagan naman po natin ang in-person campaigning (We agree to that and like we have said before, we will allow in-person campaigning)," Comelec Spokesman James Jimenez said in an interview on GMA's Unang Balita on Wednesday, Nov. 10.
Jimenez mentioned that they will come up with a set of rules for the physical campaign such as the number of people who can participate in a campaign rally and that it will also depend on the alert level of a particular place.
"So kunyari kung mahigpit ang alert level doon edi mas konti ang pwedeng mag-attend dun sa mga rally (For example, if the alert level is stricter in a certain area, then less people can attend the event)," he added.
Duterte said that the would-be candidates "cannot campaign by just shouting at one corner." He added that they have to have a place where maybe they would limit the attendants or the number of people there.
"I’d like to remind the Comelec that you must give the candidates really the space and the --- whatever modalities there. Because there can never be an election without a campaign and other people cannot also afford --- some candidates cannot afford the expense of the TV expos," Duterte stated during his late-night taped public address.
In the announcement made by the Comelec in Resolution No. 10695 dated Feb. 10, 2021, the campaign period for the 2022 elections are as follows: Feb. 8 to May 7, 2022 will be for Presidential, Vice Presidential, Senatorial candidates and Party-list groups participating in the party-list system of representation.
March 25 to May 7, 2022 will be for members of the House of Representatives and elective regional, provincial, city and municipal officials.