The Commission on Elections (Comelec) urged artists to file a formal complaint if their music is used without their consent in campaign jingles for the upcoming 2025 midterm elections.
“We hope that the band can file a formal complaint with us. This will serve as the basis for our actions,” Comelec chairman George Garcia said after Lola Amour claimed their song was used without permission.
“The band needs to submit a formal complaint to us. That will guide our next steps,” he added in a message to reporters on Viber.
However, Garcia declined to name the candidate or political party that used the song for their campaign jingle.
“This happened before, and I guess it’s happening again: All of the campaign jingles using our songs do not have our consent. Vote wisely,” Lola Amour said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday.
According to Garcia, the use of songs in campaigns without permission is regulated by a memorandum of agreement that was signed in January between Comelec and the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL).
The poll body chief said this agreement formally creates a mechanism “for violation reports and actions, as well as monitoring and enforcement.”