The official campaign period for both local and national elections is not due to begin until early next year, but already, posters and streamers emblazoned with the grinning faces of electoral candidates have been put up in strategic locations.
The proliferation of such materials, most notably a few months prior to the actual May 14 elections next year, is indicative of a widespread shameless self-promotion culture prevalent among politicians in the country. In fact, the practice of attaching one's name or face to any government project has gone from annoying to eerily familiar, it has spawned an entirely separate category for insouciant, self-promoting politicians: epals.
In this week's edition of Q&A Tuesdays, we respond to a question on this infuriating aspect of Philippine politics.
I am a 47-year-old teacher. I have always been vocal about my dislike for banners and posters featuring the faces of politicians. Now that the upcoming midterm elections is approaching, I'm afraid things are only going to get worse. Is there no legal remedy against epal politicians?
Ruben (Cagayan)
There is as yet no definitive meaning for the term epal, but in general it is used to allude to any public official who uses government money for self-promotion either through legitimate projects, premature campaign sorties, or advertisements extending greetings to the public on any given holiday.
In Congress, several bills have been filed in the past to curb the profligate use of public coffers for self-promotion.
One such proposal was Senate Bill No. 1967, or “An Act Prohibiting Public Officers from Claiming Credit through Signage Announcing a Public Works Project.” Otherwise known as the anti-epal bill, the proposed measure was filed in 2011 by the late Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago as a response to what she views as an “unnecessary and highly unethical” practice among public officials.
In the bill's explanatory note, the firebrand senator said that such practice “promotes a culture of political patronage and corruption.”
As expected perhaps of a legislative body peopled by epals, both the lower and upper chambers of the House of Representatives sat on the bill.
Citizens weary of the epal culture among elected officials have turned to the Internet to do what the legislative body can't – do away with epal politics.
On Facebook, a page called "Anti-Epal" has gained traction since it was set up, with an increasing number of "Likes" due in huge part to its anti-epal advocacy. The page affords users of the popular social networking site the chance to report, view, or upload photos of epal politicians and have these same officials subjected under the glare of public criticism.
But the battle against epal politics, particularly against premature campaigning, takes on a more complicated turn, especially in light of a Supreme Court ruling in 2009 which virtually granted a free pass to any politician to do whatever he/she wants to do even before the onset of the campaign season.
In Peñera vs. Comelec, the SC ruled that “the effective date when partisan political acts become unlawful as to a candidate is when the campaign period starts. Before the start of the campaign period, the same partisan political acts are lawful.”
This stance by the court is consistent with a 2006 decision, in which the SC ruled that early campaigning forms part of candidates' “freedom of expression.” In Lanot vs. Comelec, the court said that early campaigning “are acts protected as part of freedom of expression of a citizen before he becomes a candidate for elective public office.”
Without concrete legislation to curb, if not altogether stop, epal politics from the local all the way to top executive levels, it may take a long while before the country becomes free from the almost ubiquitous image of politicians grinning as if they have the last word.
But who are they kidding? At least during the elections, it's the electorate – with their biases and prejudices against bad leadership – who get to have the final say.
* * *
Got a question yourself? Post it in the comments section below or on any of our social media channels. Watch out for the next edition of Q&A Tuesdays next week!