The Commission on Elections in Negros Oriental has warned broadcast stations to observe the mandatory airtime allocated for political candidates during the campaign period and other regulations as well, otherwise they could be sanctioned.
Atty. Jerome Brillantes, Comelec officer of Dumaguete City, the capital of Negros Oriental, disclosed on Thursday that even the management of radio and television stations and political candidates paying for block time could be charged if found guilty of any such violations.
Brillantes, however, admitted that it would be difficult for the Comelec to monitor all the radio and television stations in Dumaguete and Negros Oriental. But he stressed that the poll body would not hesitate to bring to court block timers if they persist in continuing with their unlawful practices.
The law stipulates that a local political candidate is only allowed an aggregate of 90 minutes campaign airtime in all broadcast stations that he or she has paid for block time from March 29 to midnight of May 11, according to Brillantes.
The Fair Elections Act has reduced the total airtime allotted for national and local candidates to air their campaign ads on aggregate basis and not per station as previously practiced.
Furthermore, block time anchors handling these paid political programs must refrain from engaging in black propaganda, attacking other candidates or even promoting their own candidates outside of the allowed airtime, he added.
Comelec provincial supervisor Atty. Juvenal Tuale on Tuesday called for a meeting with the different broadcast block timers and station managers to discuss the new implementing Rules and Regulations of the Fair Elections Act.
Atty. Brillantes called on station managers and political candidates to also monitor and advise block time broadcasters to observe the law.
According to Brillantes, a block timer found guilty of violating the new rules on campaign propaganda could also cause the disqualification of the candidate paying for the block time program and the broadcaster.
Anybody can file a complaint with the Comelec if that person believes a violation has been committed and the poll body will conduct an investigation, he added. (PNA)
