A day after the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) were conducted, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Iloilo reminded the candidates and their supporters to responsibly remove all campaign posters to avoid producing additional waste in the community.
Jonathan Sayno, Iloilo City election assistant II, said in a media interview, stressed that it is the candidates’ responsibility to remove their campaign posters within five days after the election was conducted.
Sayno added that failure to do the said responsibility is considered an election offense, citing that it carries a penalty of disqualification for holding public office or one to six years of imprisonment.
In Iloilo City, the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) has already reminded the candidates to secure their campaign materials after the election as the office will collect those scattered materials to be included in its recycling project.
CENRO chief, Engineer Niel Ravena revealed that the campaign materials will be collected separately and will be added to the city government’s program with a cement factory for “refused-derived fuel for co-processing.”
Ravena explained that the campaign posters are low-value materials for recycling but one of the longest wastes to decompose, which could be an alternative fuel for the co-processing project.
He added that waste in the city might reach more or less 15 tons after the election, citing the experience they had during the previous poll.
Data from Comelec-Iloilo City indicated that there were 6,687 candidates for BSKE in the city, which include 1,592 in Jaro district; 1,402 from City Proper; Molo (1,019); La Paz (942); Mandurriao (788); Arevalo (638); and Lapuz with 511 candidates.
Meanwhile, in Iloilo province, Provincial Government Environment and Natural Resources Office senior environment management specialist Mitzi Penaflorida said they will incorporate the removal of campaign posters, which would not be removed by the candidates, during their clean-up drive dubbed “Limpyo Iloilo” on November 6.
She explained that the campaign materials might be brittle when exposed to too much heat and rain, which could become microplastics or microbeads, exposing harmful hazards to the environment.
Penaflorida also expects the participation of barangay officials, especially those newly-elected, during the clean-up, saying that it is already part of their responsibility. (PIA-Iloilo)