The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said on Thursday, Feb. 24 that it will ask first for a written consent before entering private properties to remove unlawful election materials in relation to "Operation Baklas" that it's implementing.

Commissioner Rey Bulay said that he proposed to craft Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) in connection to this during a Comelec en banc meeting. Bulay is the head of the The National Comelec Campaign Committee (NCCC).

"Kasi iba na yung sitwasyon ngayon eh (The situation now is different). The law may not have evolved, 21 years ago, but situations change we have social media now to ventilate yung mga ganyan (those things)," he said.

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez on the other hand, said that one of the biggest features of the of the planned IRR is that they will be requiring their field officials to get a written consent before they can enter into private property.

He clarified however, that the Comelec has always abided by the policy that they will not enter into private property unless there is consent by the property owner.

"And we will take that a step further by requiring the officer to produce a written consent form. Para malinaw (So that it's clear), to all and sundry, even though they are not there during the event at para may patunay tayo na nagbigay talaga ng paalam yung property owner (so that we have proof that the property owner gave his/her consent)," he added.

He also stated that if the property owner refuses to give consent then a filing of a case is possible but the poster or election material to be removed will remain.

Comelec's Operation Baklas has been heavily criticized lately after its implementation as the poll body was accused of trespassing inside private properties to remove unlawful election materials. Comelec refuted this however, and maintained that consent was asked before the materials were taken down.

Veteran election lawyer Romulo B. Macalintal, in an email sent to Comelec on Feb. 21, requested the poll body to temporarily suspend implementation of its regulations on alleged oversized campaign posters posted by non-candidates in private places with the consent of the owners.

"The Comelec cannot motu proprio, or on its own, just remove said campaign materials without notice and hearing or without giving the affected person the opportunity to be heard, otherwise his right to due process will be violated”, Macalintal said.

Yet Jimenez said that Operation Baklas is not currently suspended. He said that insights like this and from various sources are always part of the discussion even though they do not necessarily refer to these specifically.

"Lahat naman yan pasok sa (All of those are part of the) knowledge at awareness nung ating (of our) commissioners when they discuss these things," he added.