CITY OF SAN FERNANDO?Environmentalists in Central Luzon were disappointed and angry on the first day of the election campaign period as supporters of candidates nailed or tied posters on trees along the Manila North Road (MacArthur Highway) and local roads.

The Save Our Trees Coalition (SOTC) on Tuesday began enlisting volunteers for next week?s ?baklasan,? a drive to remove campaign materials.

The SOTC is the same group that successfully lobbied the Department of Public Works and Highways to stop the cutting of almost 8,000 trees in Bulacan, Pampanga and Tarlac for a road-widening project.

?If it is necessary, especially for those candidates who habitually violate the law or defy our appeals, we will shame them by splashing their photos like they are wanted criminals,? SOTC spokesperson Cecile Yumul said.

Trees get hurt, too

She said like human beings, trees can get hurt, scarred, burdened or killed if they are not properly cared for.

Lawyer Temie Lambino, Commission on Elections supervisor in Pampanga, said candidates are violating the Fair Election Practices Act and its implementing rules and regulations when they nail, tie or hang campaign materials on trees or other objects excluded from the common poster area.

Section 22 of the resolution said: ?A common poster area does not refer to a post, a tree, the wall of a building or an existing public structure that is in active use, but a structure ? that is temporarily set up by the candidates or political parties for the exclusive purpose of displaying their campaign posters.?

Citizens? vigilance

The SOTC has also asked residents to use their mobile phone cameras to take photographs of violators among candidates and send or deliver these to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

It is also partnering with the Pampanga-based group Alang Plastikan (No Plastic) for more creative ways of protecting the trees.

Five groups of visual artists in the province are again buckling down to work by painting hearts on tree trunks to remind candidates and their supporters that trees should be loved and not be hurt.

The Kalinangan Telabastagan, Gamat Fernandino, Pampanga Artists? Chamber, Alaya Chamber of the Arts and Sikhay helped save the 8,000 trees in July last year by painting human figures on them.