IT is the election period once again in our country. Both national and local elections will take place on the 9th day of May 2022. Candidates for the national and local positions have already started the campaign period. They are all busy doing campaigns and election rallies. They visit different places under their jurisdiction asking for the Filipino electorates to support and vote for them in the coming election.
The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) is the principal government agency tasked by the Constitution to enforce and administer all laws and regulations concerning the conduct of regular and special elections. The COMELEC is considered to be the premier guardian of the ballot (www.loc.gov, March 27, 2022).
According to the COMELEC, the campaign period for national positions is from February 8, 2022, up to May 7, 2022. On the other hand, the campaign period for local positions is from March 25, 2022, up to May 7, 2022. The national and local elections will be happening on May 9, 2022.
Yes, campaigns for both national and local positions have already started. The candidates running for national and local positions are now very busy campaigning for themselves and asking the voters to vote for them in the election. Campaign rallies are conducted in different places for those who are running for national and local positions can present their plans to our country, if ever they will be elected during the election.
But, what have you observed during the campaign rallies nowadays? Are different health and safety protocols against the COVID-19 still followed by everyone? Try to observe the campaign rallies of different groups which are being shown on television or those campaign rallies being conducted locally in our place. What can you say about it?
Physical distancing is not being observed already. Plenty of people attend the campaign rallies and campaign goers don’t mind if they are close or far from each other. There is still the presence of the coronavirus around us – we are still in the middle of a pandemic. Let us remember that COVID-19 can be spread easily by human activities. Campaign rallies could be an avenue for the spread of the virus. In other words, campaign rallies of politicians could be a great spreader of COVID-19.
There are also individuals attending the campaign rallies who are not wearing their face masks. Everyone attending the campaign rallies should be wearing face masks to avoid the spread of any viruses. Face masks must also be properly worn. In this way, the attendees can prevent spreading the virus.
Attendees must also bring their alcohol or hand sanitizer that they can use from time to time. They must also sanitize their hands while attending campaign rallies where they are prone to touching things that are not sanitized. Holding anything during this time of the pandemic is not allowed, it is because we do not know if that certain thing or object has the virus. So, alcohol and hand sanitizer are needed this time so that everyone can clean or sanitize their dirty hands from time to time.
Attendees must also be fully vaccinated. The vaccine can help an individual in fighting the coronavirus. It is helping an individual in one way or another, so attendees must be fully vaccinated. Individuals who are not vaccinated must be advised not to attend the campaign rallies. If possible, all the attendees must be fully-vaccinated against COVID-19 to lower the risk of getting infected by the virus and spreading them to unvaccinated people.
Those people running for a position in the government must also serve as role models in following the different health and safety protocols against COVID-19. Everyone should observe the different health protocols to make sure the safety of everyone attending the campaign rally.
