Palace urges local bets to follow health protocols during campaigns
As the local campaign officially kicks off today, Palace reminded the candidates and the public to follow the health protocols based on the Commission on Elections (Comelec) guidelines.
Acting presidential spokesman Martin Andanar said on Thursday that they are confident that the people will continue to be vigilant.
“We therefore ask everyone from the candidates to the general public to strictly comply with health and safety protocols and the guidelines set by the Comelec in the conduct of their political activities, including campaign rallies and in-person campaigning,” he furthered.
Andanar also stated that vaccine rollouts will not slow down amidst the nationwide campaigns. The government aims to vaccinate 90 million Filipinos before President Duterte steps down from office.
Comelec Commissioner George Erwin Garcia also said that physical contact are not allowed during the campaigns. These include kissing, hugging, handshakes, and the likes.
Despite the lowering of alert levels, Garcia stressed that social distancing is still a must.
“Always think about the health protocol. We have reached alert level 1, the situation is very good, everyone is moving around, we are able to campaign well. At the same time… make sure that there is social distancing,” he reminded campaign teams.
Health experts warned the possible surge of coronavirus (COVID) cases during the campaign season.
Dr. Albert Domingo, public health consultant, said in an interview that the Philippine elections is looking like a “public health nightmare.”
“Our candidates are practically, I don’t know, if they’re still doing distancing [during rallies], I don’t see any distancing anymore,” Domingo said to The Diplomat.
However, the Department of Health (DOH) has not observed an increase of COVID cases despite the political campaigns.
