President Rodrigo Duterte urged the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to come up with a plan that would allow candidates in the 2022 local and national elections to hold even limited in-person campaigns.

“Kung papayagan nila tayo mag-assemble (If they would allow us to assemble) because you cannot campaign by just shouting at one corner. You have to have a place that – maybe they would limit the attendance and the number of people there,” Duterte said in his weekly Talk to the People aired late Tuesday night.

Duterte said not all candidates can afford to pay for political advertisements particularly on television.

“I’d like to remind the COMELEC that you must give the candidates, really, the space and whatever modality there. Because there can never be an election without a campaign and other people cannot also afford – some candidates cannot afford the expense of [television] exposures,” he said.

The COMELEC earlier noted a “major shift” in the election campaign amid the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic.

COMELEC spokesperson James Jimenez reminded the aspirants to strictly comply with health and safety protocols, particularly when holding political gatherings.

The candidates who will ignore the existing pandemic protocols are “endangering their own supporters,” he said. (PNA)