It’s not unlawful, but is it right?

August 13, 2024

MANILA – Not many are aware of it, except maybe for some well-informed election lawyers and their moneyed clients. Per the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) recent admission, “premature campaigning” is no longer an election offense. One landmark Supreme Court ruling (Lanot v. Comelec), lucidly penned by former associate justice Antonio Carpio, found its way into the 2007 amendment (Republic Act No. 9369) of the election law, practically nullifying premature campaigning as an electoral offense. That crucial amendment was subsequently affirmed in 2009 in another high court ruling, Penera v. Comelec, also written by Carpio.

The reasoning is simple enough and goes like this: A candidate becomes liable for election offenses only upon the start of the designated campaign period. Before the official campaign begins, there is no candidate to speak of, and therefore no election offense with which he/she may be charged.

Before 2007, under the Omnibus Election Code, it was taken for granted that people aspiring for an elective position, who resort to acts promoting their candidacy before they file their certificate of candidacy and before the start of the official campaign period, risked being charged with premature campaigning once they file their COCs. The encompassing tone of the law (particularly Sections 79 and 80) struck fear in the hearts of politicians who could face disqualification as candidates, or even removal after they have been elected to office. It deterred those whose financial resources enabled them to promote their candidacies long before the official campaign season in order to gain a head start over their rivals. As defined in the Election Code, premature campaigning included acts like: (1)