LOOK: Caraga police upcycles campaign tarpaulins into school bags

MANILA, Philippines — For personnel of the Caraga police, campaign materials used in the midterm elections are not just meant for the waste bin.

Instead, they upcycled tarpaulins into school bags for students who will be returning to their classrooms as classes open next week.

“Aside from promoting the ‘makakalikasan’ as a PNP core value by utilizing recyclable waste materials, we also promote the ‘makatao’ by sharing simple gifts of love to the underprivileged people of Caraga,” Police Brigadier General Gilberto Cruz, director of the Caraga police, said in a statement Thursday.

Caraga police spokesperson Lt. Col. Christian Rafols said Cruz ordered the regional police to take down all campaign materials after the elections on May 13.

Earlier in April, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) had also removed illegally placed posters in the region. Assisting the Comelec operation was the local police, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Land Transportation Office, Bureau of Fire Protection, National Commission on Muslim Filipinos, and Barangay Peace Action Teams.

A total of 200 students at Barangay Poblacion in Carmen, Agusan del Norte received the bags during a community outreach program of the Caraga police on Thursday.

School supplies including notebooks, papers, pencil, eraser, sharpener, plastic envelope, scissors and ballpen were placed inside the bags, said Cruz.

The Caraga police will also conduct a similar activity in Butuan City at the opening of classes on June 3.  (Editor: Mike U. Frialde)