Erring ‘poster’ enforcers face relief
The Philippine Star 02/15/2007
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) ordered yesterday the immediate relief of all police chiefs and barangay officials who fail to rid their areas of campaign materials that violate the law.
"I can have any police chief or director shifted if there is a proliferation of illegally posted campaign propaganda in their areas of "jurisdiction," Abalos said. "If they cannot address this simple problem, they should be replaced or find themselves to be replaced."
Abalos said he already recommended to the Philippine National Police (PNP) the imposition of administrative sanctions against the officers in charge of areas where there is evidence of "unusual proliferation" of illegal campaign materials.
He said he has sought the support of PNP Director General Oscar Calderon for the strict enforcement of the Fair Elections Act, which prohibits the posting of any election propaganda outside authorized common poster areas.
Abalos said the
posting of campaign propaganda outside common areas – such as bridges and electric posts, schools, shrines and main thoroughfares – is a crime punishable by one to six years’ imprisonment, which is "why our police and barangay officials should not allow this."
He also said he asked Interior Secretary Ricardo Puno to remind all barangay officials that they may face administrative charges if there is a proliferation of illegally posted campaign materials in their areas.
Even the owners of private commercial establishments and houses may be held liable if political posters larger than the prescribed two by three feet are posted on their buildings.
House owners may also sue persons who post campaign materials on their property without their consent.
Abalos called on all senatorial candidates to remove all their illegally posted campaign materials within three days or face disqualification: "If you will not remove those illegal posters in three days, it will be presumed that they were posted with your consent or under your direction and, therefore, you could be held liable for this."
The Comelec is also considering a ban on the posting of campaign materials on public vehicles: "Although they are privately-owned, public vehicles have gained a public image already," Abalos said.
Meanwhile, election lawyer Romulo Macalintal asked the Comelec to strictly enforce the prohibition of election propaganda outside designated areas, which he said is also a form of cheating, because "these candidates are taking undue advantage over their political rivals. Cheating is not only in the counting of ballots but could be committed by candidates who employ illegal means to solicit the votes of the voters."
He said the Comelec should not be too easily convinced of any alibi offered by any of the candidates, but should immediately conduct investigations in which candidates must be asked to explain why he or she should not be disqualified for violation of the Fair Election Law.
MMDA action
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said they will be utilizing 3,000 personnel to remove illegal election posters and streamers in the metropolis.
MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando said they will also tap 1,000 sidewalk clearing operations personnel and 2,000 street sweepers to ensure that "poster boys" do not install election paraphernalia in prohibited areas.
Fernando said at least 1,000 members of the monitoring groups will use cellular phones equipped with cameras that the MMDA will issue to them, to photograph election crewmen posting paraphernalia in areas outside Comelec-designated poster zones before tearing down the posters or streamers in question.
"The MMDA was called by (Abalos), who was once the MMDA chairman, to remove all illegal campaign posters," Fernando said. "We would use all our efforts because we do not want other candidates to follow their bad example."
The Comelec may use the results of their monitoring operations in building up cases against erring political parties or candidates, Fernando said, adding that he believes Abalos is serious in enforcing the law.
Campaign materials are not to be posted on trees, electric posts, center islands or electric cables. Posters should only be limited to plazas, mini-parks, basketball courts, markets, barangay halls and vacant lots.
Fernando said candidates and
campaigners may also install posters in private buildings, but must obtain the permission of the building’s owners.
Save the trees
Meanwhile, in Malolos City, the local environmental group Sagip Sierra Madre Multi-Partite Council (SSMPC) asked candidates and their staff to spare the trees when posting campaign materials.
Ely Borcena, a SSMPC official based at the City of San Jose del Monte, said in a telephone interview that, "candidates who do not follow the law should not receive any votes."
However, as early as 4 a.m. on Tuesday in Bulacan, electric posts, concrete walls and trees were festooned with campaign posters promoting the candidacies of some senatorial candidates.
Bulacan Provincial Election Officer Gregorio Larrazabal told The STAR they are inspecting several areas, adding that municipal election officers submitted lists of designated common poster areas in the province.
A check with the Comelec provincial office here shows that only election officers of the towns of Angat, Balagtas, Baliuag, Marilao, Meycauayan, Pulilan, Pandi, Paombong, San Jose del Monte City, Sta. Maria, and Rafael submitted designated common poster areas.
Another Comelec employee said they informed the candidates and political parties of the guidelines set by the Comelec, to no avail.
"They keep telling us that they do not know about that because it is their staff and volunteers who put up their posters," the Comelec employee said, asking for anonymity.
PNP warning
In a related development, the PNP warned candidates in the national and local elections against paying campaign fees to the New People’s Army (NPA), which may result in their disqualification.
Calderon ordered all PNP regional, provincial, district and station commanders to intensify their respective information campaigns to convince candidates not to support the campaign fee collection being done by the NPA.
PNP spokesman Chief Superintendent Samuel Pagdilao Jr. said Calderon has given instructions to all police nationwide to develop programs to prevent rebels from collecting campaign fees from electoral candidates.
Pagdilao asked candidates who have received "feelers of collection" for campaign fees from the NPA to coordinate with the PNP, which will also seek help from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in dealing with the NPA.
He also said the PNP will come up with programs to make it hard for the NPA to collect campaign fees from the candidates.
Southern Tagalog Regional director Chief Superintendent Nicasio Radovan said the PNP provincial directors have intensified their patrol systems in Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon (Calabarzon) to prevent the NPA rebels there from collecting campaign fees. The Southern Tagalog is one of the areas infested by the NPA.
In the past elections, Radovan said he gathered that the rebels imposed campaign fees on national and local candidates to be able to campaign in the NPA bailiwick.
According to Radovan, some candidates in the senatorial race paid as much as P500,000 as campaign fees, while some candidates for governor paid P400,000 and others running for seats in the House of Representatives shelled out P300,000.
"Mayoralty candidates paid P100,000 to NPA rebels, who also demanded P50,000 campaign fees from barangay captains," Radovan added.
No use of government resources in campaigns
In Butuan City, Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento said at the Caraga Police Regional Office that the ban on use of government resources as vehicles for campaigning or engaging in partisan political activities stays.
Sarmiento also advised incumbents or their relatives who may be seeking public office to refrain from using government resources in coming elections, "or else they will be dealt with by the long arms of the law."
However, Sarmiento said the Comelec cannot deal with local candidates or incumbents who engaged in early campaigning, possibly using government resources, but did not file their certificates of candidacy at the time they campaigned.
"The Supreme Court has already issued ruling on that, unless candidates filed before Comelec his or her certificate of candidacy, the poll body cannot act on complaints because they are not candidates yet," Sarmiento said.
However, he failed to explain whether there are mechanisms for implementing ban on use of government properties or vehicles, as there is no existing memorandum of agreement to that effect between the Comelec and the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC).
He also did not say how the police, particularly the Regional Police Traffic Management Group (RTMG), will enforce the Omnibus Election Code ban on the use of government resources and property, particularly vehicles, in partisan politics.
Majority of the incumbent local officials in the Caraga Region or their spouses, children and close relatives are seeking public office in the local elections.
Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento, Calderon and the PNP’s regional officials held a press conference in Butuan City Tuesday, where Calderon was the guest speaker at the 16th anniversary celebration of the Caraga Police Regional Office.
Calderon advised the relief of chiefs of police in the various municipal police offices and the provincial directors of the Caraga Region whose relatives are running in the coming elections as soon as their kin file certificates of candidacy, "however, Police Regional Directors are exempted."
In the May 2004 elections, the Comelec regional office here officially tallied total registered voters of 1,160,893 in the four provinces and three cities in Caraga. – Mayen Jaymalin, Ben Serrano, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Dino Balabo and Evelyn Macairan
So ladies and gents, make your cellcam ready all the time. Naa mag hugaw hugaw sa inyong by pasting illegal campaign materials labi na ug kontra sa imong napilian, pwede nimo ikeha ug ipapreso.
Maayo kaayo ug kining policy ni Fernando maoy i-adopt sa ubang LGU so that we don't harm our sorroundings.
Watch Out for Illegal Campaign Materials
Originally Posted by OLERR
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