MANILA - An elections commissioner on Thursday said the Commission on Elections (Comelec) body should come up with rules on which campaign materials should be prohibited as the midterm elections approached.

This after a photo of underwear printed with the name of a re-electionist Quezon City councilor went viral online.

A staffer of Councilor Ramon "Toto" Medalla confirmed that the giveaway came from their office but said it was not for the campaign but was given away as a prize for games.

• VIRAL: Pangalan ng konsehal nakatatak sa pamigay na bulaklaking panty

"We should have a rule on what materials are prohibited. Those that are obscene or show women as sex objects," Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon said in a tweet in response to a post by election watchdog National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL).

We should have a rule on what materials are prohibited. Those that are obscene or show women as sex objects. What's the name of candidate ? What city.?

— Rowena V. Guanzon (@commrguanzon) January 9, 2019

"This one really overdid it," she said in a separate tweet before asking details about the candidate who gave out the underwear.

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez also expressed his distaste over the panty freebies.

"Well, hell. That's not exactly what politicians want to be known for, is it?" he said.

Under the Philippines' Fair Election Act, "publishing or distributing campaign literature or materials designed to support or oppose the election of any candidate" is considered as part of an election campaign.

The campaign period for national positions is from February 12 to May 11, 2019, while officials running for local posts may only officially undertake their campaign from March 29 to May 11, 2019.