In the near future, the Commission on Elections should consider lengthening the campaign period in local elections from the present 45 days to at least 60 days.
The existing campaign period is just not enough for a candidate, especially those running for top provincial positions, to cover all households and meet as much family members as they can.
That is probably why the major political groups in Catanduanes started their house-to-house visits in various barangays ahead of the 45-day campaign period in order to get a head start.
Consider that in 1990, or five years after the Omnibus Election Code was enacted, there were only 187,000 people in Catanduanes.
Granting that at the time, there were an average of five members per household, one running for governor, vice governor or congressman just needed to visit most of 37,000 homes.
If we deduct about five (5) days from the campaign period to set side days for unforeseen events, this translates to a candidate having to visit at most 900 homes daily for the remaining 40 days.
Today, 35 years after the 45-day campaign period was set, the island province already has at least 272,000 people residing in about 61,000 households.
Using the same 40-day net campaign period, anyone running for the top three posts would have to walk around several kilometers daily to visit 1,500 houses each day.
This would be a physical impossibility as most of the candidates for governor, vice governor and congressman are either senior citizens or just a few years away from earning their ‘dual’ citizenship.
Some could even be nursing ailments that limit their mobility, a disadvantage that they would rather not divulge to the voting public, especially their opponents.
Of course, the election body could argue that one could resort to campaigning on various social media platforms but nothing beats physical presence in imprinting one’s name and image in the voter’s memory.
Aside from the fact that not all voters are active on socmed, especially in rural areas where connectivity is difficult, one’s messaging could get buried under an avalanche of fake news, misinformation and disinformation that now pollutes Facebook and other sites.
Through Resolution No. 11064, as amended by Resolution No. 11064-A, COMELEC seeks to address the increasing use of social media, artificial intelligence (AI), and internet technology in political campaigns.
The regulations aim to ensure fair and credible elections by preventing the spread of disinformation and misinformation while respecting the constitutional right to freedom of expression.
That is why candidates and political parties have been required to register their socmed accounts with the Commission.
There is no problem with these two election actors but the reality is that many campaigns use fake social media accounts, false amplifiers (fake accounts, bots, astroturfing or masked messaging), deepfakes, cheapfakes and softfakes to disseminate fake news, misinformation and disinformation that usually overwhelm any attempt to present a candidate’s good side.
The number of potential violators and the volume of prohibited online campaign materials alone could swamp the COMELEC such that the implementation of the resolutions is severely curtailed.
Considering the situation, it would be best for the local aspirant to conduct the campaign largely in the traditional way while maintaining a decent presence on social media.