MMDA tears up 6.7 tons of bets’ posters

NO POSTER is too high to escape the reach of the MMDA’s “Oplan Baklas” clearing team which has been going around the metropolis to take down election materials displayed outside the Comelec’s designated common poster areas. The discarded materials, which have been taken to its impounding area in Pasig City, may be distributed to schools for recycling or to NGOs which can turn these into bags, according to the MMDA. Courtesy of MMDA Public Information Office

THE METROPOLITAN Manila Development Authority has removed over six tons worth of election paraphernalia—equivalent to two truckloads—that were displayed outside the common poster areas designated by the Commission on Elections.

In a phone interview on Sunday, Francis Martinez, head of the MMDA’s Metro Parkway Clearing Group, said they took down 6.79 tons of campaign posters and tarpaulins hanging from footbridges and cable wires, among others, during a four-day period starting on Feb. 9, the launching of “Oplan Baklas.”

“The election materials bore faces of candidates for both local and national positions. But [a lot of these] featured local candidates,” Martinez said.

He added that of the 6.79 tons, 1.82 tons of the illegally-posted campaign paraphernalia came from the following areas on Feb. 9: A. H. Lacson and España Boulevard in Manila and Roosevelt Avenue, Araneta and Quezon Avenues in Quezon City.

The next day, 1.8 tons were collected by MMDA personnel in Quiapo, Plaza Miranda, R10, Moriones and Dagupan Streets in Tondo, Lawton and the North Cemetery, all in Manila. This was followed by 1.27 tons from Addition Hills and Boni Avenue in Mandaluyong on Feb. 11; and 1.9 tons from Dapitan and P. Margal Streets in Manila, and from Sauyo Road in Quezon City on Feb. 12.

“It was in Sauyo in particular where we removed many election posters placed on electrical lines. This poses a danger to motorists because if they fall, they (motorists) can get hit,” Martinez said.

According to him, the discarded campaign materials were taken to the MMDA’s impounding facility in Pasig City.

Martinez said he had submitted a report to MMDA Chair Emerson Carlos listing the candidates whose names appeared on the posters “for appropriate action.”

“We are actually expecting to remove more of these paraphernalia starting March which is when the campaign period for local candidates begins,” he added.

The Comelec earlier warned that candidates who violate campaign rules face one to six years in jail, the loss of their right to vote and disqualification from public office.