Gina Luna Zayas-Sabio, regional election attorney of Commission on Elections 10. PIA-10 photo
MindanaoToday.com | Candidates get warning on poster, tarp displays
By: Uriel Quilinguing
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The Commission on Elections in Northern Mindanao (Comelec 10) on Tuesday (January 14) advised all filers of certificates of candidacies (COCs) for the May 12, 2025 National and Local Elections (NLE) to remove all propaganda materials they had indiscriminately displayed before the campaign periods start.
Lawyer Gina Luna Zayas-Sabio, regional election attorney of Comelec 10, said campaign propaganda of political parties, party-lists, and individual candidates should be placed only in designated common poster areas, as provided for under the Fair Elections Act (Republic Act No. 9006).
Zayas-Sabio said “Oplan Baklas” teams will not hesitate to take down oversized and illegally mounted printed materials before February 11 when the 90-day campaign period for senatorial and party-list seats starts. This also applies for those seeking provincial, city, and municipal elective posts whose 45-day campaign period will begin on March 28 until May 10.
Excluded in the campaign periods are April 17 (Maundy Thursday) and April 18 (Black Friday).
Aside from illegal installations of campaign materials often made out of cardboards, plastic, cloth or tarpaulin, their sizes are not to exceed 2×3 feet, except those intended to be used in public meeting or rallies which are displayed only for five days and be immediately removed.
She said that non-removal of these political propaganda can be grounds for pre-mature campaigning as well as for violating Section 3 of the Fair Elections Act which prohibits the display of these materials outside the common poster area.
However, the Comelec cannot order the confiscation and destruction of political propaganda materials that were installed on a private property, following a Supreme Court en banc ruling in 2022 on St. Anthony College of Roxas City, Inc. versus Commission on Elections case.
These common poster areas are preferably plazas, public markets, and barangay centers and that “trees, plants and shrubs” are off-limits for political campaign material display, as specified under Comelec Resolution No. 10730.
The Comelec has also forged an agreement with the police and military organizations for the “Oplas Baklas” as well as for the installations of checkpoints in all cities and municipalities in Northern Mindanao which were operational since Sunday, January 12.
Weeks after the October 1 to 8 filing of COCs here, a team from the City Local Environment and Natural Resources Office (Clenro) took down several propaganda materials of those aspiring for national and local elective posts that were mounted on trees particularly those at the city outskirts.
Mounting of posters and tarpaulins, tucked or nailed on trees and on electric posts is prohibited under the city’s Codified Ordinance.
Clenro personnel did not only removed political campaign propaganda, but also illegally installed commercial billboards and other printed merchandizing materials were also pulled down. [Uriel Quilinguing/MT]
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