Mayor Duterte’s ban on political motorcades and caravans can be questioned for alleged violation of Constitution
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 12 March) – Mayor Sara Duterte’s ban on political motorcades and caravans in this city of nearly a million voters can be questioned for allegedly violating the Constitution.
Retired regional state prosecutor and currently Law professor Antonio Arellano, the lone survivor among three human rights lawyers here who were detained by the Marcos dictatorship from May 1985 to February 1986 for alleged rebellion, told MindaNews that the mayor’s Executive Order 10 can be questioned “on the ground that it violates freedom of expression which can only be constitutionally restricted or restrained where there is clear threat to public interest, not doubtfully or remotely but only on the ground of clear and present danger.”
The Commission on Elections’ Resolution 10732 issued on November 24, 2021, allows motorcades and caravans among the campaign activities but Mayor Duterte’s Executive Order No. 10 prohibits these “due to the continuing increase of fuel costs, the inconveniences of the traffic jams it will create and the ongoing public want due to the economic losses from the pandemic coupled with the rising prices of basic commodities.”
Arellano explained that the mayor’s prohibition “directly strikes at the freedom of the electorates to express their preferences by expressing them through the use of the caravan form of political campaigning.”
“Every individual who participates in the caravan,” he stressed, “is exercising his constitutional freedom of expression, a preferred right which the Constitution does not allow ‘dubious intrusions by the state.’”
He said the danger on which the state grounds its intrusion into the “prohibited zones of freedom” must be clear and present. “Causal relation must be such that if the act that is prohibited is allowed, the danger which is detrimental to public interest will actually happen. But is there evidence showing that it will?”
Arellano was earlier appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte as member of the government peace panel that negotiated with the National Democratic Front and as a member of the Consultative Committee that drafted the proposed Federal Constitution of the Philippines.
“Unconstitutional”
Motorcades and caravans are allowed under Comelec Resolution No. 10732, a 21-page document providing guidelines for the conduct of in-person campaign; rallies; caucuses, meetings, and conventions; motorcades and caravans; and miting de avance “under the new normal in connection with the 09 May 2022 National and Local Elections.”
The resolution provides guidelines for motorcades and caravans in Section 16.
Mayor Duterte issued Executive Order No. 10 on March 7, a two-page document indicating under Section 1 that Comelec Resolution 10732 is “hereby partially adopted” but specifying under Section 2 that Section 16 of the Comelec resolution “shall not be implemented in Davao City.”
“All political caravans and motorcades are prohibited,” the EO says.
Arellano noted that under the Omnibus Election Code, political campaigning may be subject to local government unit regulation, particularly, through ordinances providing for the requirements on the issuance of permits, but “actual prohibition which has the effect of curtailing freedom of expression can only be lawful under the ‘clear and present danger rule.’”
Former Law dean and Constitutional law professor Antonio La Vina told MindaNews the EO violated the Comelec rules and also “the IATF rules on what is alert level 1 and 2 but most of all, it is unconstitutional.”
“It is unconstitutional because it violates freedoms of expression, speech, assembly, and travel. It violates also the fundamental political rights of citizens. Assuming even that the COVID pandemic is not yet over, such prohibition is arbitrary and not justified by the science,” he said.
The mayor, who is running for Vice President, has been going around the country in motorcades after the filing of her candidacy in mid-November and last month held a 28-day caravan dubbed “Mahalin Natin ang Pilipinas Ride” from Davao City to other parts of Mindanao, Visayas and Luzon.
Comelec Campaign Committee
ABS-CBN News reported evening of March 8 that the Comelec’s local campaign committee will review the mayor’s EO.
“The second question is whether or not a local chief executive has the power to order things like this… The question has already been referred to the Regional Comelec Campaign Committee. Sila magru-rule niyan,” ABS-CBN News quoted him as saying.
Under Resolution 10732, matters in relation to campaign activities are to be decided upon by the Comelec Campaign Committees at the national (NCCC), provincial (PCCC), city (CCCC) and municipal (MCCC) levels.
The CCCC is chaired by the Election Officer and its members are the City Health Officer, Chief of Police, highest ranking officer in the area as may be designated by the Armed Forces of the Philippines; and the Director of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) or highest-ranking officer in the area as may be designated by the DILG.
The CCCC, like the other CCCs, are tasked to classify category levels in their respective areas of jurisdiction, approve/disapprove application for the conduct of election campaigns under the Comelec guidelines; monitor the conduct of election campaigns; prepare reports as regards the conduct of electoral campaigns; implement the provisions of Resolution 10732; and perform other functions as may be determined by the Comelec.
It provides under Category Level that Category 1 is equivalent to the “new normal or equivalent to Alert Level 1 of the IATF-MEID’s Alert Level System.”
Davao City has been under Alert Level 1 since March 1.
Mayor Duterte’s EO 10 was released at 11:13 a.m. on March 7. On the same day, at 6:56 p.m., her office released EO 11, lifting all COVID-19 restrictions in Davao City.
“Maglakad”
A day after EO 10 was released, Manila Mayor and Presidential candidate Isko Moreno Domagoso (Aksyon Demokratiko) said the ban on motorcades in Davao City will not stop him from campaigning here.
“Puwede naman ako maglakad sa Davao,” he told reporters in Tarlac City.
On Wednesday, Senator and Presidential candidate Panfilo Lacson (Partido Reporma) urged Mayor Duterte to reconsider her ban on motorcades, claiming it is not fair to other candidates.
Because of limited time, candidates who cannot hold rallies resort to motorcades to make the public aware of their presence.
“In the spirit of fair play, dapat huwag siyang mag-ban kasi sa ibang lugar, nakakapagmotorcade sila” (she should not ban because in other places, she can have motorcades), he told reporters in a press conference in Pasig City.
No candidate for President and Vice President has campaigned in the city since the national campaign started on February 8 but supporters of Vice President and Presidential candidate Leni Robredo and Senator and Vice Presidential candidate Kiko Pangilinan held a motorcade dubbed “Ronda ng Pag-asa” on February 9. Candidates for local posts are also expected to hold motorcades when the campaign period begins on March 25.
There is no report as yet on Robredo’s take on the motorcade ban. But another Presidential candidate, Senator Emmanuel Pacquiao, on Tuesday said he does not agree with the ban.
“Kaya nga tinatawag natin na eleksyon, pwede ka mangampanya. Para tayong bumabalik sa Grade 1. Sa akin lang is paano pa ang silbi ng eleksyon kung walang pangampanya” (That’s why we call it elections, you can campaign. It’s like we’re going back to Grade 1. What is an election if you cannot campaign?), the Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted him as saying in a press briefing in Pampanga.
But GMA News on Friday reported that Pacquiao would abide by the ban and just push for community forums in Davao City.
Labor leader Leody de Guzman, another Presidential candidate, does not object to the ban claiming it benefits only rich candidates and does not raise the level of discourse in the elections.
Defending her ban in Davao City, Mayor Duterte, according to a GMA News report on Thursday, said: “dapat po nakikiisa tayo sa mga kababayan natin who will most likely na ‘yung mga pinaka nasa baba sila ‘yung likely na pinaka maging vulnerable at mag suffer ng effects nito (we must be in solidarity with our fellow citizens who will most likely be the most vulnerable and suffer the effects). So we need to empathize with them.”
The mayor said she will heed her own order by not staging motorcades in her city.
But the same report said that depending on her schedule, Mayor Duterte will continue to participate in caravans and motorcades in other areas because it is not banned there.
Nationwide, it is only Davao City that is banning motorcades and caravans until May 8. (Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews)