Local bets set to hit campaign trail

MANILA, Philippines — The 45-day campaign period for local candidates in the May 13 midterm polls officially starts tomorrow with a call from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for people to start studying who they want to vote for.?

In an interview, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said voters should look at the candidates’ respective platforms and “move beyond hyper-partisanship” when making their choices.

“Is this someone we can support because, maybe, he has good advocacies? Is this someone we can work with?” he noted.

Jimenez has given assurance that the poll body is prepared to oversee the campaign period for local polls, particularly the violations of campaign rules.

“We are ready as we will ever be. As far as the campaign period is concerned, all regulations are ready and the common poster areas have already been designated,” he said. ?Jimenez said most of the Comelec’s training and seminars for teachers who will serve in the elections are done so they can now focus on “local concerns.”?“The campaign period pretty much runs itself. Our concern is more on monitoring violations of campaign rules,” Jimenez added.?However, he admitted that the campaign period can be overwhelming for their city and municipal election officers as there are over 18,000 positions up for grabs in the coming polls. ?“You are looking at several thousands of candidates at play. You can tell that within two hours, our personnel will already be overwhelmed,” he said.?But while Comelec personnel will be “outmatched mathematically speaking,” Jimenez said the poll body is capable of handling the campaign. ?“Aside from working hard, we also have to work smart. Basically, that’s what we are looking at. So we need to properly target our efforts,” he added.?The campaign period for senators and party-list organizations started last Feb. 12.