MANILA, Philippines (Updated 1:48 p.m.) — The campaign of Vice President Leni Robredo is considering filing a case over the Commission on Elections’ removal of campaign materials on private property and is encouraging supporters directly affected by the takedowns to also take legal action.
"Kung kinakailangan, pinag-aaralan sa kasalukuyan kung posibleng mag-file ng karapat-dapat na kaso para maging mas klaro iyong rule dito sa isyung ito," Robredo’s spokesperson, Barry Gutierrez, told a news conference on Thursday.
Related Stories
(If necessary, we are currently studying the possibility of filing the appropriate case so that the rules on this issue are clarified further.)
Gutierrez added partly in Filipino, "But definitely, the right to action currently belongs with the people directly affected. After all, it’s their private property, they are private persons, they are not connected to the campaign."
INTERAKSYON: Comelec urged to look into dismantling of tarps in private properties
Some supporters of Robredo and her running mate, Sen. Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan, reported that campaign materials of the tandem have been removed by the Comelec, even if these were displayed in private properties.
Class suit
But election lawyer Romulo Macalintal said these takedowns were unconstitutional as they violated supporters’ right to due process.
"It was a very arbitrary act of the Comelec because said persons were never given the chance to be heard which violated their procedural right to due process when said campaign materials were removed without any hearing," Macalintal said at the press briefing.
Macalintal led Robredo’s legal team in the poll protest against her by former Sen. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. over the 2016 vice-presidential elections.
He cited the 2015 case Timbol vs Comelec, where the Supreme Court ruled that the poll body’s motu proprio powers, or its power to act on matters even without a request from another party, can only be exercised if those affected have been given the chance to be heard.
He added that election regulations on campaign materials, particularly in the Fair Elections Act, only cover candidates and political parties and not ordinary citizens.
"The Comelec cannot prescribe what the law does not provide. The Comelec may have found some gaps in the law, but it is not the power of the Comelec to supply the gaps in the law because its function is not legislative," he said.
He added that' "if the Comelec feels that there is a need to add more provisions to the law, the Comelec should go to the Congress of the Philippines and ask for an amendment of the said law."
Macalintal said supporters of all candidates can head to the Supreme Court and file a class suit assailing the Comelec’s actions.
"They can file a class suit before the Supreme Court so that other parties can join. Not just Robredo, but also [former Sen. Ferdinand] Marcos, Leody de Guzman, [Sen.] Manny Pacquiao, all of them can join," he said, partly in Filipino.
Lawyers: Comelec cannot enter private property, take down posters arbitrarily
In an advisory on Wednesday night, the Constitutional Law Cluster of UP Law, the Recoletos Law Center and the Civil and Political Rights Clinic - UP Clinical Legal Education Program said that the right to participate in the elections is not limited to the right to vote but extends to the right to campaign as well.
"Political speech is a preferred right. And political speech during an election stands a higher level," the lawyers also said as they stressed that the Supreme Court has "repeatedly reminded" the Comelec of the limits of its authority.
They said that government restrictions on "the right to convicne others to vote for a candidate carries with it a heavy presumption of invalidity."
They also said that Comelec cannot enter private property and take down posters and streamers without notice and hearing.
"The campaign period is limited," they also said. "Unduly restrictive regulations may prove unfair to the electorate."
PNP: Cops must keep hands off
Aside from this, Macalintal also flagged the police’s participation in taking down campaign materials at the headquarters of volunteers for Robredo’s campaign in Santiago City, Isabela.
Police Col. Jean Fajardo, Philippine National Police spokesperson, told One News’ "Agenda" that they are now investigating and validating reports that police also helped take down posters and tarpaulins.
"Any PNP personnel should not be involved in removing these campaign materials," Fajardo said. "The PNP personnel should be limited in providing security while Comelec and other government agencies … are removing these campaign materials."