Commission on Elections Chairman George Erwin Garcia said the 10-day Comelec ban on the distribution of all forms of “ayuda (assistance)” includes the sale of rice at P20 kilo by local governments.
The ban that starts Friday, May 2, will run until May 12, Garcia said at a press conference in Bacolod City on Thursday.
He said officials who violate the ban will be held liable for committing an election offense.
Violators may face penalties ranging from one to six years of imprisonment without probation, disqualification from public office, and loss of voting rights.
Garcia said there was a rollout of P20 a kilo rice in Cebu on Wednesday but it was being sold by the Department of Agriculture, there was no participation of the local government.
The Comelec gave the DA permission to sell the P20 a kilo rice, he said.
However, it would be good if the DA after its initial rollout on Wednesday “self suspends” the sale of the P20 of rice so it is not marred by suspicion that it being used for politics, Garcia said.
Garcia also pointed out that the P20 a kilo is partly subsidized by local governments that contribute P6.50 per kilo, which is considered “ayuda” that requires Comelec exemption.
The Comelec ruling is that all “ayuda is prohibited 10 days before the election from May 2 to 12 in whatever form, so it is not used by politicians to their advantage, he said.
The sale of P20 a kilo rice can resume on May 13, Garcia said.
Only medical and burial assistance are exempted from the 10-day ban, he said.*