Baguio court's halt of Comelec's in-person campaign rules only applies to CAR, says poll body chair
By Dhel Nazario
The suspension of the Commission on Elections' (Comelec) rule requiring volunteer groups to acquire permits before conducting in-person election activities will only apply to the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), the poll body's acting chair said on Friday, March 4.

Acting Comelec Chairman Socorro Inting made the statement following the order issued by the Regional Trial Court Branch 5 in Baguio City regarding the extension of the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) filed by petitioners who back Vice President Leni Robredo's presidential bid.
The order dated March 2, 2022 stated that "the Comelec will observe status quo which means that the Resolution No. 10732 will not be implemented." The Baguio RTC initially issued a cease and desist order on Resolution No. 10372 for a period of 72 hours.
"They have not acquired jurisdiction over us," Inting told reporters.
Inting said that the status quo only applies to CAR and is not in effect nationwide. The petitioners filed for an extension of the TRO with the hearing set on April 4.
"We will communicate with our election workers in CAR," Inting said.
With this, Inting affirmed that the implementation of the said resolution will continue nationwide except for the aforementioned area.
The poll body promulgated on Nov. 24, 2021 Resolution No. 10732 containing the set of guidelines to be followed in the conduct of political campaigns and to make sure that these activities adhere to Minimum Public Health Standards (MPHS).
Under Comelec's Resolution No. 10732, the Comelec imposed an additional requirement for both candidates and non-candidates to first approve the conduct of a rally before the applicant could get a mayor’s permit.
No election campaign activity can be conducted according to the resolution, without first obtaining prior approval from the corresponding Comelec Campaign Committee (CCC). Applications for the conduct of election campaign activities shall be filed at least 72 hours prior to the intended schedule, according to the resolution.