Placing campaign materials on vehicles remains legal

Placing campaign materials on vehicles remains legal and does not violate any law, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said. Materials on vehicles cannot be restricted by election rules because these are “technically" on private property, Comelec Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer told reporters. The poll official made this announcement after the administration party Lakas-Kampi-CMD wrote to the poll body inquiring about the matter. Administration bet Gilberto Teodoro is one of the candidates who opted to place election materials at the back of buses. “These buses are private property," Ferrer said, adding if it is legal to place election materials on buses, it should be alright to place them on other vehicles as well. "Whatever applies to the buses should apply to…tricycles [and] any vehicle that is owned by private individuals," he said. Moreover, since there is no law covering the placement of campaign paraphernalia on vehicles, Ferrer said the public should not be afraid of being apprehended nor punished by law enforcers. "It’s not proper for us to start arresting these people now [since] those are their private vehicles," he said. However, if the public or interested parties intend to come up with official guidelines covering these materials, they should file a petition with the poll body. "We will balance the pros and cons again... if we rule on the request, it should require everybody," he said. “At the moment, there is nothing in our laws," he added, referring to election materials on vehicles. Comelec Resolution 8758 limits the size of printed materials to 8 ½ by 14 inches. On the other hand, posters should not exceed two by three feet. It also prohibits the display of any election campaign or material outside of authorized common poster areas. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV