Political news , opinions and views for 2010 Presidential election

April 14, 2010

MMDA to remove all illegal campaign posters

By: Ashzel Hachero (Malaya)
Link: http://www.malaya.com.ph/04142010/metro1.html

THE Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and the Commission on Elections will join forces next week in a major cleanup to remove all illegally posted campaign materials in Metro Manila.

MMDA chairman Oscar Inocentes said around 700 members of the MMDA’s Sidewalk Clearing Operations Group, Road Clearing Operations Group, and Landscape Management Office will begin the cleanup on April 19, backed by a security contingent from the Philippine National Police.

The MMDA earlier augmented its sidewalk clearing group by 200 additional personnel.

"This isn’t merely a show of force. We want all the political parties and candidates, whether they belong to the administration or opposition, to know that we are dead serious in implementing the Comelec policy against illegal posting of campaign materials," Inocentes said.

Last Monday, the MMDA Legal Service Department formally filed criminal charges against Quezon City vice mayoral candidate Janet Malaya and her supporters for allegedly harassing a group of MMDA workers who were removing posters and tarpaulins placed outside the Comelec-designated poster areas along Commonwealth Avenue.

Malaya is the running-mate of Rep. Mary Ann Susano who is sliding down to city hall from the Lower House.

Comelec-National Capital Region director Michael Dioneda said they will "strongly" monitor the case, as well as all the other cases the MMDA will file against erring politicians and candidates in the future.

Nacianceno said they will document and submit to Comelec the illegally posted campaign materials for use as evidence in separate cases to be filed against erring candidates who violate the Fair Elections Act.

"We will file charges not only against the candidates, but also (against) their political parties," Inocentes added.

He said he has also instructed the clearing teams to go after political advertisements on the private billboards and posts of the Metro Rail Transit along Edsa. "There will be no exemption on candidates regardless of their political parties, we will have to dismantle all kinds of political posters even those that are posted at the private billboards of the MRT," he said, adding that Comelec has given MMDA authority to go after all kinds of illegal campaign paraphernalia. Inocentes said bag makers are welcome to the tarpaulins the clearing team will haul down. "All they need is to get them from the MMDA office." He said truckloads of campaign paraphernalia seized by the MMDA teams could not be thrown into landfills because these are non-biodegradable materials.

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