Pangasinan 6th district Rep. Tyrone Agabas and Caloocan 2nd district Rep. Edgar Erice said that candidates running for local positions in the May polls may be put at a disadvantage when seeking campaign permits from municipalities led by incumbent rival candidates.
Agabas made this point to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) during the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms hearing on Wednesday, March 9.
“I noticed na maraming congressman na tumatakbong mayor or local positions. Karamihan sa kanila yung permit sa rallies and others, before it reaches the Comelec dadaan sa municipal mayor, yung incumbent na kalaban ng mga candidates (many congressmen are running for mayor or local positions. Before reaching the Comelec, their permits to rally must pass through the incumbent leaders who are running against them),” Agabas said.
“Yung discretion is too much kasi nasa position yun ng incumbent mayor (Incumbent mayors have too much discretion)... What is the relief that is immediately available if whimsical yung denial ng permit (if the permit denial was whimsical)?” Agabas further inquired.
Erice, who is gunning for Caloocan's mayoralty seat under the Aksyon Demokratiko party, echoed Agabas’s sentiments.
“Parang lumalabas, sila yung referees or umpires pero kasama dun sila sa game (It comes out as if the act as referees or umpires interfering with the game),” Erice said.
“For example in Caloocan, yung kay Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso dineny ng LGU, pero on the same day na-grant yung kay Senator Manny Pacquiao, tapos before that yung kay presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. (Domagoso’s permit was denied by the local government unit but on the same day, Pacquiao’s was granted, and a day before so was Marcos, Jr. 's),” noted Erice.
According to National Comelec Campaign Committee (NCCC) Director Elaiza David, the LGU permit requirement cannot be skipped, citing Omnibus Election Code Section 87.
“That is also one problem that the Resolution seeks to address. Marami po nagsasabi bakit kailangan daw po pag magconduct ng campaign, bakit kailangan yung permit kailangan galing sa LGU... Isa po yung requirement under Omnibus Election Code under Section 87 na kailangan talaga ng permit sa LGU especially sa pag conduct po ng campaign outdoors (Many are asking why campaigns require LGU permits... It is a requirement under Omnibus Election Code under Section 87 which pertains to LGU permits for outdoor campaigns),” David explained.
However, David assured that denied permits could be appealed to the poll body, especially if found to have been “whimsically denied” by the LGU in question.