While the high court reviews the complaint against the Comelec’s conduct under its “Oplan Baklas” operation, the Supreme Court has granted a temporary restraining order (TRO) requiring the poll body to refrain from removing campaign materials put up by private persons in their premises.
The full court issued the TRO on Tuesday. Last week, supporters of Vice President Leni Robredo, a presidential candidate, asked the court to halt Oplan Baklas on March 1.
St. Anthony College in Roxas City and volunteer groups Isabela for Leni and Zamboangeos for Leni led the petitioners.
The Comelec began a virtual crackdown on what it believed to be forbidden campaign posters due to their sizes on Feb. 16, a week into the official campaign period for national candidates.
However, this strategy has drawn criticism for targeting election materials on private homes and posters, billboards, and other visual representations of Robredo and her running mate, Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan as has been noticed.
In Isabela province, police and firefighters demolished campaign materials erected by Robredo supporters. At the same time, an election official repainted a painting of the Robredo-Pangilinan duo while surrounded by heavily armed police.
The mural was painted on the wall of a private complex near Echague town’s major highway.
TRO issued vs. Comelec’s Oplan Baklas
In response, the polling organization stated that it could remove or demolish any electoral materials it deemed to be illegal, including those on private property.
James Jimenez, a Comelec spokesman, also urged those disputing Oplan Baklas to submit a complaint or take the case to court.
Last week, the country’s national bar association said that the Comelec could not enforce its rules against residents who display campaign materials in their homes.
The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) cited a 2015 judgment in Diocese of Bacolod v. Comelec, which said that election promotion regulations only apply to candidates, political parties, and party-list organizations.
“There are no existing bright lines to categorize speech as election-related and those that are not,” the decision stated in part.
“Since the dismantled posters, voluntarily posted by noncandidates at their own instance, are not election propaganda regulated by law, it goes without saying that the Comelec cannot overzealously subject them to the 2 feet by 3 feet restriction for candidates in the guise of ensuring equal opportunity among candidates,” the IBP said.
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