Comelec starts crackdown on illegal campaign posters

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Friday started its crackdown on campaign materials that are oversized, placed in prohibited areas or both, after the deadline it imposed on candidates lapsed on Thursday.

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said they will deploy two teams which will go around the northern and southern parts of Metro Manila and nearby provinces to document the violations.

"We will document them, and if you noticed on our social media accounts, merong hawak na dyaryo ‘yung tao namin to show that the photo was taken on the same day," Jimenez said.

"This proves the date when the image was taken and will be our evidence. We will write a letter to the candidate about the violation and we will take down the material."

He added that if warranted, "the information for a criminal complaint will be filed [by the Comelec], and an election offense is punishable by up to six years imprisonment, fines and disqualification."

Under the Comelec Resolution 10488. which serves as implementing rules and regulations of the Fair Elections Act for the May 2019 polls, parties and candidates may post their campaign materials in:

• authorized common poster areas in public places as plazas, markets, barangay centers and the like where posters may be readily seen or read, and with the heaviest pedestrian and/or vehicular traffic in the city or municipality; and
• private property, provided that the posting has the consent of the owner thereof

Posters and tarpaulins of political parties and party-list groups should only measure 12 feet by 16 feet or its equivalent but not exceeding a total area of 192 square feet.

Posters of independent candidates, on the other hand, should be within four feet by six feet or its equivalent but not exceeding a total area of 24 square feet.

For individual posters allowed in common poster areas, their sizes should not exceed two feet by three feet.

In case of space limitations, posters of candidates of political parties may be reduced to a uniform size to accommodate all candidates. This provision, however, prohibits making single letters of names having the maximum size or lesser and then putting them together to form a size exceeding two feet by three feet.

The same Comelec Resolution also states that persons posting the campaign materials in prohibited areas will be liable together with the candidates and other persons who caused the posting.

The campaign period for those seeking national posts started last February 12 and the Comelec gave the candidates until February 14 to take down illegal campaign materials.

Jimenez, however, admitted that prosecuting the violators wouldn’t be easy, citing as an example an election offense charge filed against a candidate for a local post in Pasay City back in 2016 that is still pending up to this day. 

Still, Jimenez said that while punishment for violators won’t come in an instant, taking down illegal campaign materials is a step toward making people accountable.

"The effect on that is on the electorate, para mabawasan na ang epekto nitong [mga illegal campaign materials] sa consciousness ng mga tao," he said.

"Nasa kanila na kung iboboto pa rin nila kahit na may kaso at may malinaw na campaign violation," Jimenez added. —KBK, GMA News