Early Tuesday, Filipinos were greeted by a profile picture change of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) on Facebook.
This happened minutes after the campaign period of 2022’s national candidates for the May elections officially started.
The OVP’s previous profile picture, uploaded on September 2021, was that of incumbent Vice President Leni Robredo walking with some Filipinos. The logo of her “Angat Buhay” program can be seen on top.
Now, the page bears her office’s logo as its social media picture.
Robredo is currently running for president in the 2022 polls.
The page has undergone a total of four picture changes since it was created in May 2011.
Some Filipinos who saw the picture change on their feeds looked back on how the OVP fared in the past six years.
“Thank you for giving essence to this role which has been ‘ceremonial’ for many years,” a Facebook user wrote in the comments.
“Sana ‘yung susunod na VP maipagpatuloy ‘yung high COA rating ng opisina, Level II accreditation ng PRIME-HRM, at ‘yung ISO re-certification,” another online user commented.
COA refers to the Commission on Audit while PRIME-HRM is the Program to Institutionalize Meritocracy and Excellence in Human Resource Management.
The Omnibus Election Code prohibits posting any election propaganda or political advertisement for or against a candidate to any public office unless it bears the phrases “political advertisement paid for,” followed by the name and address of the bet.
The OVP previously requested for the Commission on Elections to allow the team to continue its COVID-19 response projects during the campaign period.
Some of the office’s programs include the Bayanihan E-Konsulta, the Vaccine Express and Swab Cab.
Robredo said that she will not appear in any COVID-related activity if the Comelec would allow her office’s free antigen testing, teleconsultation, vaccination projects and medical assistance programs to continue.
“There are many people asking help every day. If we stop, others will have nowhere to go. Hopefully, we could get an exemption,” she said before.
Comelec Resolution No. 10747 requires electoral candidates to secure a certificate of exemption for “projects, activities, and programs pertaining to social welfare projects and services.”
