If this writer can rewrite election laws, here are what I would posit for fair elections in the future. We have an obsolete election law that was enacted by the defunct rubberstamp parliament and had been found by experts as bearing many loopholes. The need to amend the law to be responsive to the changing times had long been overdue. Unfortunately, congress does not care to give a damn to a legislation that will eventually jeopardize their fate in future elections.
Politicians had already been adept with the obsolete provisions of the law and had to some extent mastered the ways to subvert the law for their own vested ends. Changing the provisions to plug the loopholes would surely pose a great problem for politicians in their future electoral bids. That makes acting on the proposed amendments a suicidal adventure for lawmakers to take up. Revising the law to weed out the loopholes would result in more difficult political future for many politicians.
One problem affecting Philippine elections is the great disparity between rich and poor candidates in terms of exposure. Only those who can afford to pay the high cost of political advertisements are able to reach the masses. The poor ones had to be contented with few campaign materials that can hardly be recognized in poster areas that are plastered with those materials of the rich candidates. Not even the Fair Elections Act mattered in any way to level the playing field as those candidates who have the resources dominated the areas with gusto.
It would be best to change the law by imposing a total ban on campaign posters and in lieu therefor, the Comelec shall exercise full regulation by posting the names of qualified candidates in equal sizes and similar design in designated common poster areas. The same thing must be done on radio and television advertisements.
It must be the Comelec that will broadcast the names, qualifications and platforms or advocacy of each candidate. With the Comelec doing the posting of names of candidates, equality in space and a level playing field may at least be approximated. If the Comelec can do that under a new revision of the election law, we can somehow hope that there is a level playing field that can pave for a level playing field.
But the strongest influence of all is money, which flooded the localities for local elective posts. While many people give the best explications to justify the use of money to buy votes, the prohibited act is still deemed evil no matter all the best justification. Government can take full control over vote buying by regulating cash in circulation during the election period and strictly enforcing the law by jailing violators.
comments to alellema@yahoo.com
