Speaker Lord Allan Velasco on Tuesday, July 13 underscored the need for concerned government agencies to ensure that the May 2022 elections will be safe and free amid the serious public health threat of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID 19) pandemic.

In a virtual forum, Velasco also lauded the House Committee on People’s Participation chaired by San Jose del Monte Rep. Florida “Rida” P. Robes for initiating the forum that was attended by officials of the Commission on Elections.

Robes said the online forum entitled “Imagining the 2022 National Elections: The Many Ways the COVID-19 Pandemic Can Impact on the Electoral Process” was organized in order to raise awareness on how the pandemic can change public participation in the 2022 elections.

Robes said the reality of holding the elections while COVID-19 threatened public health should be dealt with in order to ensure the safety of voters as they exercise their right to vote.

During the forum Comelec officials revealed that restrictions in the filing of candidacy, the conduct of campaign rallies and the precautionary measures during the actual voting will have to be observed.

“The pandemic ground the world to an almost complete halt, but our democratic processes must endure. The greatest of these democratic processes, of course, is suffrage,” Velasco said.

He cited the recently-concluded plebiscite as a testing ground for the 2022 elections, with the implementation of health safety measures such as temperature checks, social distancing, and personal protective equipment or PPE for election frontliners.

The House leader believed the pandemic will most likely transform the traditional electoral system, just like what it did to the country’s educational system.

He said the person-to-person campaigns and public hall debates will most likely move to the online sphere.

“We must ensure, therefore, that the voice of those who have less in life, those who do not have easy access to internet-ready devices shall still be heard by the candidates,” he pointed out.

Invited to speak during the forum were Comelec Commissioner Luie Tito Guia, political strategist Malou Tiquia of Publicus Asia, and Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez.