The Department of Health (DOH) urged election candidates to serve as role models in following the health protocols during their campaign activities in order to prevent the rise in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases.

DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that the large crowd of people during campaign activities is a "cause of concern."

"This is really a cause of concern. Ang lagi po nating tatandaan, even though ang cases natin ay bumababa na, tandaan natin (Even though our cases are declining, always remember) that the virus is still here," said Vergeire in a public briefing on Saturday, Feb. 12.

"To our campaigners o kandidato, sana tayo yung maging modelo para maipakita natin sa mga tao na dapat tumutupad po tayo lahat sa safety protocols (To our campaigners or candidates, I hope you can serve as a model so that we can show to the people that we must all adhere to the safety protocols)," she added.

Vergeire reminded the public that they are still discouraging the conduct of mass gatherings amid the threat of COVID-19.

"The variants are still here, hindi lang po Omicron, nakakapag detect pa rin tayo ng Delta variant dito sa atin, although mas marami na talaga ang Omicron (The variants are still here. Not just only Omicron but we can also still detect Delta variant cases, although there are actually more Omicron cases now)," she said.

"Having said that, ito pong mga mass gathering, hanggang sa ngayon hindi pa rin po natin iyan ina-allow (these mass gatherings, until now we still don't allow that). But we have seen that these campaign sorties have resorted or produced ng mga ganitong kadaming (such many) gatherings," she added.

Vergeire also asked the different local government units to strictly enforce the minimum public health standards during such activities.

"Pinapaalalahan po natin ang local governments, tulungan po natin ang (We are reminding the local governments, let's help the) national government to enforce and to monitor these kinds of activities so that we can prevent further increase in cases if ever," she said.

The DOH spokesperson urged the public to remain vigilant at this point in time.

"Gusto po namin magpapaalala sa ating mga kababayan na pumupunta sa mga ganitong gatherings, mag-ingat po tayo dahil maari pa rin po tayong makakuha ng sakit (We want to remind our citizens who are attending such gatherings, let's be careful because we can still get sick)," she said.

The campaign period for those running in national positions started last Feb. 8. The national candidates can conduct their campaign activities in order to present their platforms until May 7.