House Bill (HB) 6604, which passed third reading in the House of Representatives this week, has the potential to change the political landscape in a massive way. Going by the news reports about the passage of the bill, which was introduced by no fewer than 24 representatives, you would think that all it does is mandate a 50-percent discount “for political propaganda on television, radio and print,” during the campaign period, while also declaring that “in no case shall rates charged to registered political parties and bona fide candidates be higher than rates charged to regular advertisers.”
This, however, isn’t the only thing HB 6604 does. Surprisingly, flying under the radar thus far is the fact that the bill also grants the Commission on Elections (Comelec) “the power to regulate the rates of political propaganda and prevent media outlets from increasing the rates to more than the average rates charged to regular advertisers one year prior to the start of the campaign period.” Which, among other things, means that the effect of this legislation may be felt as early as February 2018.
Leaving aside the complexities of advertisement pricing for the moment, the clear and obvious implication of this provision is that it, first and foremost, effectively “legitimizes” what most people have always commonly referred to as premature campaigning—those ads that prominently feature a politician or public figure in the most flattering light possible without them actually asking for votes. To be very clear, airing these ads before the start of the campaign period is technically legal, but it is skating on the very thin ice of public perception—for the most part, public sentiment does lean toward deeming it an unfair practice at the very least. If HB 6604 becomes a law, and Comelec exercises the authority to intervene in the pricing of these ads, thereby creating a very hospitable environment for the practice, then the Comelec may well be considered to have given this kind of “premature campaigning” the green light.
Interestingly, there exists no clear legal standard for what constitutes “political propaganda,” outside the campaign period. Within the boundaries of the campaign period, advertisements are considered political when they tend to bolster a candidate’s chances of electoral victory or defeat; a candidate is defined as a person who has filed a certificate of candidacy and has not had that certificate of candidacy in any way invalidated or voided at the start of the campaign period. Therefore, prior to the start of the campaign period—more so during the one-year period immediately preceding—there are technically no candidates to speak of. This is the reason the Comelec has never brought any legal action against all those advertisements—much to the distaste of the general public. The electoral-management body, quite simply, doesn’t have the power to interfere with what is essentially an act of free speech.
HB 6604, however, changes that and actually gives the Comelec the authority to exercise a bit of regulatory muscle even before the start of the election period, but only for the purpose of benefiting the moneyed political propagandists. Of course, the argument can be made that more ads by potential candidates means a greater opportunity for the voting public to pick and choose who they will support on election day, but—as the Constitutional Commission tasked with ensuring a level playing field for all candidates (not just those with deep war chests)—the Comelec must also consider how this will affect the smaller players, i.e., those who don’t have too much money to spend.
And, to be perfectly frank, that concern is just the tip of the iceberg.