MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) issued show cause orders for premature campaigning to at least 304 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (BSK) aspirants as of Tuesday, September 12.

“When you’re already a candidate, any attempt to promote oneself is considered premature campaigning,” Comelec chairperson George Garcia said during the launch of Committee on Kontra Bigay on Friday, September 8.

Among those who were ordered to explain were some candidates from Barangay San Bartolome in Novaliches, Quezon City, who were distributing loaf bread, medicine kits, appliances, sacks of rice, and ingredients for pancit. These items had the names and faces of the candidates on them.

“The buying of votes has no fixed price. We don’t talk about prices here. Whether it’s small or large, as long as you’re giving something with the intention of selling yourself to the voters, that’s vote buying,” Garcia said in Filipino.

Under Section 80 of the election code, a candidate is forbiden from campaigning or engaging in partisan political activity outside of the campaign period. This law states that violators may face potential disqualification from the elections, and imprisonment.

Garcia also warned aspiring BSK candidates to stop premature campaigning online.

“When filing for a certificate of candidacy (COC), you should temporarily remove all your posts, TikToks, and other activities…You can go around your village for 10 days [during the campaign period],” Garcia said.

Garcia also urged candidates to become a watchdog for each other and report election violations.

“We don’t have that kind of resources and that much number of personnel but if we become watchdogs for each other we can prevent [violation of election laws] or at least punish those who will [violate these],” the Comelec chairperson said.

The campaign period for the BSK elections is from October 19 to 28. Meanwhile, the election will be held on October 30 from 7 am to 3 pm.