No violations yet for local aspirants' campaigns — Comelec

Local aspirants who are already promoting their names and faces publicly and on social media are not yet violating any election law, according to the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

In an ambush interview, Comelec Chairperson George Garcia reiterated that local aspirants are not violating any law, as they are not yet official candidates for the upcoming midterm elections.

"They have not violated anything yet. Even though the truth may be painful, that's our law and the decision of the Supreme Court," Garcia told reporters in Filipino.

"We do not have premature campaigning for local candidates at this time. Therefore, they are not violating anything and they do not have to report everything they spend on their statement of contributions and expenditures," he reiterated.

While he understands the public clamor against local aspirants who are already giving out campaign materials or have posters plastered in public areas, Comelec explained they also cannot act on it.

"As for the posters, there are still no prohibitions, we still can't remove any of them because they are not yet candidates, they are all just aspirants," he added.

The campaign period for local candidates, including aspirants for House of Representatives, will only start on 28 March.