Manila: The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday urged incumbent officials seeking reelection in the May 12 midterm polls to remove their images from local government unit (LGU) projects. Comelec Chairman George Garcia stated that such an act would be considered election propaganda, which will be prohibited once the campaign period for local posts commences on March 28.

According to Philippines News Agency, Chairman Garcia emphasized that featuring images of candidates on LGU projects transforms them from simple announcements into campaign materials aimed at influencing voters. During a media forum in Manila, he stated, "In such instances, they won't be simple announcements of local projects but can be considered as campaign materials with the name of candidates and are influencing the voters."

Garcia urged local candidates who are currently in office to at least remove their photographs from such projects. While he acknowledged that the presence of their names might be inevitable due to their status as incumbent officials, he encouraged them to refrain from displaying their images. He warned that these actions could lead to accusations of committing "abuse of state resources" (ASR) as their images appear in local government projects.

The ASR refers to the misuse of government resources-whether material, human, coercive, regulatory, budgetary, media-related, or legislative-for electoral gain, and it is classified as an election offense. Garcia advised, "It would be better if you will just avoid putting your images in projects using the resources of the city hall or provincial capitol."

Garcia also noted that they anticipate an increase in the number of campaign materials violations once the local campaign period begins. However, he assured that local Comelec personnel are ready to issue the necessary notices to candidates instructing them to remove any illegal campaign materials.