Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año exhorted the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Thursday night, Dec. 9, to enforce the guidelines pertaining to the conduct of election-related activities as more candidates go around the country to woo voters even before the official start of the campaign period next year.

The COMELEC earlier announced that the official campaign period begins on February 8, 2022 for national posts and March 25, 2022 for local elective positions, including the position of members of the House of Representatives.

"We're asking the COMELEC to say what are the political activities that are allowed and not allowed. We hope it will be definite because there might be similar incidents in the future," Año said.

The DILG chief noted that the concern will have to be tackled before the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) to prevent “super spreader’’ events.

“We will discuss this with the IATF, with the Comelec because the start of the campaign period is still in February, it's a long way to go. We should be thankful that the Omicron (variant of Covid-19) is not yet here and our numbers (on COVID-19 infections) are good,’’ Año said.

Año made the remark after the campaign rally of former Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte last week attracted a huge crowd in Quezon City. The event freezed the morning traffic while observers noticed social distancing was not observed due to the massive turnout of attendees.

The Marcos camp later apologized for the "inconvenience" caused by the caravan to the general public.

On Dec 2, Año maintained that supporters of political parties and candidates vying for elective posts in the 2022 election are barred from holding rallies and will have to wait for the official campaign period before embarking on their sorties.

He noted that Omicron variant remains a threat to the public amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, Año noted that special gatherings will only be allowed if permitted by the local government unit (LGU) concerned provided that all minimum public health standards (MPHS) are observed.

"Bawal pa po ang mga political rally. Hindi pa po campaign period (Political rallies are still prohibited. It is not yet the campaign period). We have been seeing candidates, both national and local, staging political rallies here and there which gather hundreds if not thousands of people. Hindi pa po tapos ang pandemya. Parating pa ang omicron variant (The pandemic is not yet finished. The omicron variant is looming in the horizon),’’ Año said.

“We cannot put our guard down. The omicron variant has already reached many countries and it’s only a matter of time before it reaches us.’’

He appealed to all candidates, political parties, and their supporters to refrain from holding political rallies that attract “massive number of people as this may become super-spreader events especially when minimum public health standards are compromised.’’