Metro Manila, Philippines – Labor leader and senatorial candidate Leody de Guzman has urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to level the campaign playing field.
During the NewsWatch Plus election roundtable “Ang Kandidato,” De Guzman said wooing voters is more challenging for those coming from specific sectors than candidates from wealthy clans.
He said the government should spend on campaigning for the candidates to ensure fairness and bets should be prohibited to shell out to promote his/her candidacy.
“Talo kami ng mga bilyonaryo. Tatalunin kami ni Imee (Marcos), tatalunin kami ni Camille (Villar) na kayang gumastos ng billion pesos sa pangangampanya, actually wala pa ngang kampanya,” the labor leader said.
[Translation: Billionaires would defeat us. We would be defeated by Imee Marcos and Camille Villar who could spend a billion pesos for campaigning even when the campaign period has not started yet.]
“Tig-isang poster sa bawat barangay, tig-isang oras o minuto sa TV ng gobyerno, sa radyo ng gobyerno, dapat ganu’n nang sa ganu’n mahatulan ng mga tao ang mga kandidato batay sa kanyang track record at hindi dahil sa dami ng poster, dami ng ad sa TV, dami ng pinamimigay.
[Translation: One poster for each barangay, one minute of exposure in the government’s television and radio networks, it should be like that so the people can vote based on the candidate’s track record and not on the number of posters, television advertisements, and dole-outs.]
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