Commission on Elections-Cebu supervisor Lawyer Jerome Brillantes. (PNA file photo by John Rey Saavedra)
CEBU CITY – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Cebu province on Tuesday urged candidates for the May 9 elections to voluntarily remove their campaign posters hanging in trees, electric poles and wires, and walls not declared as common poster areas.
Lawyer Jerome Brillantes, the Comelec-Cebu supervisor, said candidates and their political parties should look for the common poster areas in each barangay and avoid mounting them anywhere.
“We will start tearing down campaign posters on April 12. If they have posters that are still hanging or posted in public places and are not in the designated common poster area, they should not wait for us to take them down. If we say public places, that means anywhere outside of the common poster area designated by the election officers in the barangay,” Brillantes told the Philippine News Agency in an interview.
In the April 12 “Operation Baklas” (takedown), the Comelec in Cebu will be working with the personnel from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Public Works and Highways, Philippine National Police, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Brillantes added that campaign posters hanging on private properties will not be taken down due to the existing temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by the Supreme Court.
“Churches are actually public places because the people tend to gather en masse. However, the Supreme Court respects the rights of the property owner if they want to hang huge tarpaulins. Although, sakit sa mata (eyesore), but we respect them. It’s their rights," he said.
Brillantes said the interpretation of the term “private property” by the high tribunal will become crucial in their future operations of removing campaign posters that are placed in public places, hoping that such an issue would be resolved before May 9.
“If the Supreme Court will resolve such issue after the national and local elections, such will become useful for the next election to serve as our guidelines in removing campaign posters hanging in public places and public facilities,” he added. (PNA)
