Amid reports that law enforcers had entered private property to remove campaign material, the spokesman of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said that they had not entered these areas without consent.

“It has always been part of the practice of Comelec to ask for permission to enter, even in the last couple of days,” Comelec Spokesman James B. Jimenez told the ABS-CBN News Channel on Friday.

“We do not go invade private spaces or residences for the purpose of enforcing our rules,” Mr. Jimenez added.

The election body had earlier issued an order for law enforcers to take down oversized campaign materials, which election lawyers have said is equivalent to warrantless seizure.

Citizens have the right to put up any size of posters inside their own property because of the freedom of speech provided by the 1987 Constitution, election lawyer Romulo B. Macalintal said in a news briefing on Thursday.

The private persons who owned the dismantled banners and posters are not connected officially to a candidate’s campaign, Ibarra M. Gutierrez III, spokesman of Vice-President and presidential candidate Maria Leonor “Leni” G. Robredo, said in the same briefing.

“We’ve never felt the need to specify that non-candidates will be covered by this (regulation) because it seems obvious that any material that promotes the victory or defeat of a candidate should be considered propaganda material,” Mr. Jimenez added.

He noted that under Comelec rules, campaign and propaganda materials should have disclaimers showing who paid for them in support of a particular candidate.

Videos and photos of authorities dismantling campaign materials of Ms. Robredo and her running mate Senator Francis “Kiko” N. Pangilinan were posted on social media by the opposition tandem’s supporters and have gone viral.

One of the posts showed a mural showing support of the tandem painted over by an official of the Comelec. Mr. Jimenez said that the official had previously asked the owner for permission to paint over the mural and was given consent to do so.

Comelec is not singling out any candidate while implementing the rules, as authorities also took down materials of almost all presidential candidates, he added.

“We cannot get to all sites of materials in one day, you can only do so much in a day and we will get to them,” Mr. Jimenez stressed.

The Supreme Court had reminded the election body in the past not to overstep its authority, lawyers from the University of the Philippines said in a statement on Thursday, citing similar cases in the past.

Political speech is a preferred right and stands on a higher level during an election, the lawyers said.

“The need to regulate campaign propaganda inside properties stems from the need to ensure a level playing field,” Mr. Jimenez said.

He added that freedom of expression and freedom of speech are not absolute rights and can be regulated under the proper conditions.

Senator and presidential candidate Panfilo M. Lacson, Sr. earlier said that Comelec should review its campaign rules because some of these are impractical.

Human Rights lawyer and senatorial bet Jose Manuel “Chel” I. Diokno earlier said law enforcers have no power to dismantle these campaign materials, no matter the size, on private property.

Meanwhile, Acting Comelec Chairperson Socorro B. Inting said that the election body may review the rules on face-to-face campaigning in compliance with the latest guidelines of the country’s pandemic task force. — John Victor D. Ordonez

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