The Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) welcomes the guidelines against discrimination released by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for the 2025 elections. The guidelines’ release is a step in the right direction and the Comelec must ensure that they are properly implemented.

The Comelec released Resolution No. 11116 titled “Anti-Discrimination and Fair Campaigning Guidelines for the Purposes of the 12 May 2025 National, Local and BARMM Parliamentary Elections” on February 19. Citing existing laws, the guidelines prohibit discrimination against indigenous peoples, people with disabilities, women, people with HIV and AIDS and other marginalized sectors of society.

The guidelines also prohibit “vilification, labeling, or guilt by association” which constitute “harassment and intimidation.” This section cites the Deduro vs. Vinoya court case in which the Supreme Court ruled that red-tagging violates numerous human rights of activists.

The guidelines also cite international human rights agreements that the Philippines has signed: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forrns of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). It highlights the importance for democracy of the exercise of “the right of suffrage free from any fear of violence, injury, harassment and intimidation.”

The Comelec anti-discrimination guidelines are consistent with human rights and democracy. They remind us that the country has signed many international agreements and has passed many laws against discrimination. They also remind us that these laws are poorly implemented. We hope that the Comelec will see to it that its anti-discrimination guidelines are strictly implemented.

The fact that the Comelec needed to release these guidelines and reiterate the content of the country’s anti-discrimination legislation highlights the toxic and discriminatory behaviors of the country’s politicians especially during elections. These behaviors have been exhibited and promoted especially by Rodrigo and Sara Duterte and their creation, the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

The Dutertes and the NTF-ELCAC have promoted discrimination and polarization in society, normalizing the branding of people critical of government as “adik,” “NPA,” or “Dilaw” as well as the hurling of death threats and other kinds of threats. These labels and threats hinder democratic discussion and even debate about important social, economic and political issues, and prevent society from coming into agreement on important principles in running our country.