WHOEVER expected that this year’s midterm elections would be tame and subdued upon seeing the politicians who filed their certificates of candidacies quietly participate in the signing of the covenant and the parade of “decent, civilized” candidates, must have been truly naïve and desperate to see meaningful changes in the political battlefront this time.

The candidates who participated knew better. They had sharp knives stored up in their minds to obliterate and silence any opposition to their ambitions. They knew that the covenant-signing event arranged by the local Commission on Elections was merely an occasion staged for photo-ops for public consumption, and to impress upon the voting public that the Comelec is on top, and in control to keep this year’s elections “clean and peaceful” within the bounds of its promulgated rules. Is it?

As expected, we are seeing the rush to exploit new campaign rules in addition to the old unenforceable rules created dismay, confusion and disorientation among voters and candidates even before Comelec fired the starting gun for the campaign to begin.

Totally unexpected was the new Comelec rule that the distribution of ‘ayuda’ cash programs, i.e., AKAP, ACIS, TUPAD, etc. of the national agencies will be allowed to continue. This triggered a complete revamp in the strategies of political camps, particularly, in the House of Representatives, the holder of the purse.

The rule is a veritable green light for vote-buying, a criminal act punishable by disqualification and fines, but vote-buying candidates using government funds know that the vote-buying rule is now toothless.

And fully aware that the Comelec is not manned by qualified personnel to regulate fake news in social media, we are seeing candidates and their trolls going overboard with their lies about ill motives and past performance of their opposing camps.

Worse, the candidates literally insult Comelec officials in their faces with their devil-may-care posting and mounting of tarp posters of any size on trees and electric posts, aware that it will not dare to file charges and complaints for violations.

With one violent incident reported, most candidates appear unperturbed. Why?

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