The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) is appealing to candidates for the 2022 national elections to refrain from holding political rallies, citing the threat of the Omicron variant and the proper time for the campaign period.
"Bawal pa po ang mga political rally. Hindi pa po campaign period," Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said in a statement. "Hindi pa po tapos ang pandemya. Parating pa ang Omicron variant."
(Political rallies are still not allowed. It is not yet the campaign period. The pandemic is not over, the Omicron variant is still approaching.)
According to the secretary, they have been seeing local and national aspirants staging political rallies that are gathering thousands of people and warned that this could become super-spreader events.
"We cannot put our guard down. The Omicron variant has already reached many countries and it's only a matter of time before it reaches us," he added.
In cases of "special gatherings," however, they may be permitted as long as they have permission from the local government unit and all minimum public health standards are observed.
Candidates and their supporters have been holding caravans and motorcades across the Philippines over the past weeks, which Año said were only allowed because they are usually held in open areas and physical distancing can be observed.
"Nakamonitor ang mga kapulisan sa mga caravan or motorcade at sinisiguro nila na may physical distancing, hindi katulad sa mga political rally na mahirap ikontrol ang mga tao," he said.
(The police are monitoring caravans or motorcades and ensure that physical distancing is observed. This is unlike political rallies where crowds are hard to control.)
The Commission on Elections designated February 8 as the start of the campaign period for national positions and March 25 for local posts, and Año reminded aspirants to abide by this rule.
"There is a time for everything and now is not the time to gather a huge number of people. Let’s wait for the campaign period," he said.
The secretary blamed the complacency on the decreasing number of COVID-19 cases and reminded that the guidelines from the Inter-Agency Task Force state that gatherings are subject to the approval of local government units.
