Election watchdogs side with Comelec on airtime

Two poll watchdogs, the Institute for Political and Electoral Reform (IPER) and the Legal Network for Truthful Elections (Lente), are siding with the Commission on Elections in its interpretation of airtime limits. They said the Supreme Court ruling which earlier ordered the implementation of campaign airtime limits, will break the intent of the law and leave poor candidates as casualties. The Comelec had previously ruled that candidates running for a national position can run political ads on all TV stations for not more than 120 minutes. This was challenged before the Supreme Court (SC) by GMA-7, TV-5, the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas, and Sen Alan Peter Cayetano. They insisted candidates were entitled to 120 minutes for each station. The SC however ordered the Comelec from implementing its airtime limits, prompting Comelec chair Sixto Brillantes to threaten to resign. IPER executive director Ramon Casiple said the SC ruling will benefit only affluent candidates.

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