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Pacquiao candidacy to test 'premature campaigning' ban


How do you solve a problem like Manny? The Comelec is currently singing this tune as it considers how to enforce conflicting laws on premature campaigning and who is defined as a "candidate". The boxing icon is said to be preparing to file his candidacy for Sarangani congressman, which could make his media omnipresence a violation of the law. The poll body's spokesperson, James Jimenez, acknowledged that the Comelec is being challenged by a "very complicated question."


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Once Pacquiao files his Certificate of Candidacy (COC), his media presence should already be banned, otherwise it would "uneven the playing field in favor of him," according to Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento. The period for filing the COCs begins Friday, November 20, and ends at midnight on December 1, 2009. The Omnibus Election Code prohibits “partisan political activity," which is defined as “directly or indirectly soliciting votes, pledges or support for or against a candidate," before the start of the official campaign period in February next year. The definition is perceived as broad enough to encompass nearly anything done by a candidate in the media, including even news interviews and guestings on entertainment and public affairs programs, not to mention acting in movies. At least one opposition camp fears that the law could be used by the administration to disqualify their candidate, making them extra cautious about what the candidate will do in public and in the media. But is a person a candidate once he files his certificate of candidacy? He is not, according to Republic Act 8436, or the Poll Automation Act, which states that someone who has filed his COC with the Comelec "shall only be considered a candidate at the start of the campaign period," which is on February 9, 2010. However, the older Omnibus Election Code (Batas Pambansa 881) differs, asserting that a candidate is anyone who has filed his certificate of candidacy. Comelec Chair Jose Melo is hoping that Congress will take action to solve the impasse. "I really want election laws amended since there are many (commercial) endorsements appearing today," he said. But lawmakers will likely leave it up to the courts to clarify the existing laws. Nevertheless, Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Y. Larrazabal recently warned celebrities intending to file their COCs not to engage in "partisan political activity" before the campaign period. There is no bigger celebrity today than Manny Pacquiao, who made boxing history last Sunday by winning his seventh weight division crown. As he now sets his sights on a political prize, Pacquiao may find his fame biting him in the back if he is disqualified for appearing everywhere from billboards to TV ads. Even if the new welterweight champion decides to cancel his ads - and break commercial contracts - and declines TV appearances, he cannot control all the Pacquiao content circulating on the Internet, if the Comelec will even dare to police a realm even the Chinese communist state cannot completely monitor. There is no jurisprudence yet on commercial product endorsements featuring official candidates before the campaign period. The one case that lawyers frequently cite is the recent Penera vs. COMELEC, (G.R. 181613, September 11, 2009), in which the Supreme Court upheld the Comelec's disqualification of Mayor Rosalinda Penera of Sta. Monica town in Surigao del Norte for riding in a motorcade on the day of her filing, or one day before the start of the May 2007 campaign period. On the other hand, lawyers can also cite Barican versus Comelec in 1992, in which the high court overturned the Comelec's disqualification of Jerry Barican for premature campaigning by making political statements on the day he filed his candidacy. "Anticipation of the campaign might be a little heady and, like wine, loosen the tongue with swagger and bravado," the Supreme Court said. "But acting as they did, assuming they did so, the petitioners were merely warming up, so to speak, and had not yet really started the fight." Whether or not someone has formally declared his candidacy may even be irrelevant, if one considers a pronouncement in Penera vs Comelec: “Premature campaigning may be committed even by a person who is not a candidate." That can be interpreted to mean that even before the filing of the COC, a person can be guilty of premature campaigning. Strictly applied, all those non-candidates who have appeared in so-called "advocacy ads" and engaged in "partisan political activity" could be in danger of disqualification once they become candidates. - KIMBERLY JANE T. TAN, SOPHIA M. DEDACE, and HOWIE SEVERINO, GMANews.TV
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