The Commission on Elections' (Comelec) regulations for in-person campaigning give an undue advantage to pro-administration candidates in the upcoming May 2022 elections, Makabayan party senatorial candidate Neri Colmenares reckoned.

“It gives politically compromised entities like Local Government Units (LGU), the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) the power to dictate where and when campaigns can be conducted, giving pro-administration bets an undue advantage,” asserted Colmenares, a lawyer, in a press statement on Monday, Feb. 14.

For him, candidates with less resources are more susceptible to the "additional layers of bureaucratic red tape" brought upon by stringent requirements and “compromised entities".

“The recent Comelec regulations that require a permit and many other prerequisites for in-person campaigning run counter to the spirit of our election laws,” he said.

Colmenares further explained that these in-person campaign regulations are tedious and further discourage voters from participating in the national elections.

“Dapat tiyakin ng Comelec ang pinakamadaling paraan para makapagprisinta ang mga kandidato ng kanilang kwalipikasyon at plataporma (Comelec needs to find the easiest way to give candidates a platform to present their qualifications and platform),” noted Colmenares.

A recent example of Comelec regulations interfering with a candidate’s campaign was presidential candidate Leodegario “Ka Leody” De Guzman, whose campaign team had to re-file a permit with the poll body to conduct his proclamation rally in Quezon City last Tuesday, Feb, 8 due to last minute changes in venue.