A question from Facebook:
Q: “One sleight of hand trick that US President Trump did last week is to file his candidacy for the 2020 elections, meaning as early as now he can accept campaign ‘contributions.’ My question is, is this allowed as well in the Philippines, James Jimenez, not necessarily for the Presidency, but in other positions where one can be reelected?”
A: It isn’t explicitly prohibited, but it’s something that can’t be done, simply because there isn’t any mechanism – either in law or in practice – for the early filing of candidacy. No one, therefore, can file a candidacy for any position in advance of the statutorily defined election period.
HOWEVER, if the point is simply to solicit campaign ‘contributions,’ this small inconvenience of not being able to file a candidacy early is of no significance. The Philippines does not have the same kind of campaign contribution mechanism – and protections – as the US. Soliciting contributions is, therefore, largely unregulated, with regulation being literally non-existent before the commencement of the election period.
What this means is that a person can, today, ‘declare’ a run for office in, say 2019, and start accepting ‘contributions’ at the same time. As far as the COMELEC’s monitoring of campaign funds and spending is concerned, these actions would carry no election management implications.