Comelec to meet 'Batang Quiapo' team over election law misrepresentation

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is set to meet with the production team of "Batang Quiapo" to discuss the incorrect portrayal of the country's election law in one of its episodes.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Comelec Chairperson George Garcia said that while the TV series features fictional characters and stories, it is still important to correct the inaccurate portrayal of the election law to prevent possible misinformation.

"We would like to state that this may be fictional, but this may also cause misinformation among their million of viewers. We also hope that at least the law we are implementing in the election, can be corrected and implemented before the election campaign period [for local candidates]," Garcia said in Filipino.

"The characters may be fictional, the story itself may be fictional, but the law is not. Because if what we're enforcing is the law, I hope it is not fictional," Garcia also stressed.

The Comelec chief said they are also willing to discuss with the production team what should be done before the start of the campaign period or during the campaign season.

He said he hopes the poll body would have a productive discussion with the "Ang Probinsyano" team.

Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal previously urged Comelec to "educate" the production team of the ABS-CBN teleserye after he pointed out the 5 March episode, which showed the Manila mayor (Albert Martinez) confronting the vice mayor (Chanda Romero) for alleged "premature campaigning."

Macalintal reiterated that "there is no law prohibiting premature campaigning in the country," since candidates officially assume their status only at the start of the campaign period.

Garcia has also repeatedly explained that Comelec cannot yet reprimand aspirants or remove their posters prior to the campaign season, as it has no authority to regulate early advertisements.

Last week, Comelec invited a beauty queen contestant from the noontime show "It's Showtime" after it claimed to have "limited" knowledge about the poll body.

The poll body invited Heart Aquino for a guided tour of its office in Intramuros, Manila, to offer voter education.

The campaign period for 66 senatorial candidates and 156 party-list groups started on 11 February. Meanwhile, aspirants for the House of Representatives and other local posts can only start campaigning on 28 March.