Comelec to require bets to report celebrity online endorsements

Comelec chair George Garcia. —Inquirer/Niño Jesus Orbeta

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will presume as paid any online endorsement made by a celebrity, internet personality, or social media influencer in favor of candidates running in the May 12 national and local elections.

At a news forum in Manila on Wednesday, Comelec Chair George Erwin Garcia said the poll body would soon adopt a resolution requiring online endorsements—whether paid for or a donation—to be reported by candidates in their statements of contributions and expenditures (Soces).

“When a celebrity is used [to endorse a candidate], we will presume that the celebrity is paid and therefore [the candidate] should not tell us that it (the endorsement) was free because the celebrity is a friend or an admirer because there is now a presumption of payment,” Garcia told reporters.

READ: Comelec to decide next week on paid endorsement in 2025 polls

“We’re not after the celebrity or the influencer, what we’re after is the candidate who’s saying that [the endorsement] is free, because if it’s free, then it’s a donation,” he said.

According to him, the Comelec policy will not include a definition of a celebrity and every endorsement will be treated on a case-by-case basis since the endorser may turn out to not be a celebrity at all.

Exemptions

But Garcia clarified that the regulation would not apply to online endorsers who are related to the candidate up to the second degree of consanguinity and affinity, saying, “There’s no value for love [by a relative-endorser].”

The exemption will also apply to incumbent government officials and politicians who endorse other candidates, especially if they are party mates.

Garcia said that free or donated endorsements would be assigned an equivalent amount, and it would be up to the online celebrity to report these for taxation purposes.

Under the law, all candidates, whether they won or lost, are required to file with the Comelec their respective Soces within 30 days from Election Day.

Deficiencies in the Soces, including failure to report contributions such as endorsements, may lead to penalties for the candidates, such as administrative fines or perpetual disqualification from holding public office.