By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL
IF it violates certain provisions of the fair elections law, the Commission on Elections may consider banning broadcast networks from airing the upcoming boxing match of senatorial aspirant Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao.
Comelec Chair Andres Bautista said in a press conference Tuesday it is possible to do so since the poll body has “some form of control, and regulatory supervision over entities which have a franchise during election period.”
Former lawmakers Walden Bello and Rene Saguisag have written the Comelec separately to raise the issue of possible unfair publicity advantage that Pacquiao could enjoy in relation to his senatorial bid.
Pacquiao is running under the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA). He is set to face off with American professional boxer Timothy Bradley on April 9, exactly a month before the 2016 polls. Bello is an independent senatorial bet.
Bautista, however, said it is not about prohibiting Pacquiao from boxing, which is his profession.
“You have to distinguish the fight from the fact that it is being broadcast in the Philippines,” he said.
“The issue here is whether or not he is getting airtime. So it’s not the question of his boxing, but if this is a violation of the Comelec (ruling) with the fact that he’s running for national office and he gets this kind of television exposure,” he added.
The Comelec en banc will decide whether or not the airing of the fight would be blocked after Pacquiao’s camp has submitted its reply.
Bautista said the Comelec en banc is giving Pacquiao five days to answer Bello’s and Saguisag’s letters, on the advice of the Comelec Law Department.
Meanwhile, Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon said in her Twitter account Pacquiao should consider postponing his match with Bradley until after the elections since “it is not a title bout.”
Comelec faced a similar dilemma in 2007 when Pacquiao’s bid for a congressional post coincided with a boxing match with Mexican boxer Jorge Solis. The poll body implemented partial restrictions in the airing of the fight in South Cotabato, his home legislative district.
But the circumstances are much different today in terms of scale, Bautista said. Pacquiao is running for a national post, and the 2007 match was a title fight.
Under the fair elections law, candidates vying for national posts are given a 120-minute maximum airtime limit for television and 180 minutes for radio. Local candidates, meanwhile, are entitled to 60 minutes for television and 90 for radio. (See Comelec eyes reforms in fair election law)
Violations of the law account for election offenses, which are to be subject to preliminary investigation by the poll body, and then forwarded to the court to deliberate for criminal offenses.
Under Section 268 of the Omnibus Election Code, violators face imprisonment of one to six years, disqualification to hold public office and removal of right to vote.
