President Rodrigo Duterte asked the Commission on Election (Comelec) to give space to allow candidates to campaign amid the restriction brought by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

"That is the problem of Comelec, if they will allow us to assemble because you cannot campaign by just shouting at one corner," Duterte said during his taped public address on Tuesday night.

"You have to have a place where maybe they would limit the attendants or the number of people there but… This is the problem of the Comelec ‘they should prioritize'," he added.

Duterte said there are some election candidates who cannot afford expensive ways of campaigning.

"I’d like to remind the Comelec that you must give the candidates really the space and whatever modalities there are, because there can never be an election without a campaign and other people cannot also afford some candidates cannot afford the expense of the TV exposures," he added. Robina Asido/DMS