The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Tuesday, March 8, said it will let the local Comelec’s regional campaign committee to rule on the campaign caravan ban issued in Davao City by vice-presidential candidate and Mayor Sara Duterte.

“That question has already been referred to the regional Campaign Committee. Sila ang mag-ru-rule niyan (They will be the ones to rule on that). I cannot give you any indication on how they will rule kasi pinagaaralan pa lang nila iyan (because they are still studying it),” said Comelec Spokesperson James B. Jimenez when asked if whether or not the local chief executive has power to order a campaign caravan ban.

“But certainly this is one of the situations that you know we anticipated that local chief executives might do in the face of the pandemic,” he continued.

The poll body official did not provide other details on this issue.

“So, we will see what the comelec regional campaign committee says about this,” he ended.

On March 7, the mayor prohibited all political caravans and motorcades in Davao City through the issuance of Executive Order No. 10.

Among the reasons cited by Duterte for prohibiting these activities include the “increasing cost of fuel, the inconvenience of traffic jams it will create, economic losses from the pandemic coupled with rising prices of basic commodities.”