Post-election cleanup of Metro Manila begins

MMDA Chair Francis Tolentino file photo

MANILA, Philippines—The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) started Wednesday a massive cleanup to remove campaign materials that littered Metro Manila during the campaign period.

MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino personally led the first day of the clean-up operation around 4 a.m., getting rid of campaign posters and tarpaulins in streets and polling precincts.

At least 30 members of the MMDA’s Metro Parkway Clearing Group (MPCG) will take part in the activity with the agency deploying several heavy equipment such as dump trucks, manlifter and a fire truck.

The tidying up work is expected to last for two weeks, Tolentino said.

Tolentino said keeping the streets clean “is everyone’s responsibility,” but added that MMDA is leading the operation to fulfill its waste management and health and sanitation mandate.

In the 2010 presidential elections, 15 truckloads of waste, mostly composed of election garbage such as posters, tarpaulins, sample ballots and food containers, were collected by the MMDA.