COUNCILORS tagged in an online post for failing to immediately remove their campaign posters said it was unfair as they cannot remove all the campaign posters within a day.
This comes after a local radio station posted on its Facebook page on Monday evening a photo of campaign posters of re-elected councilors Bonifacio Militar and Pilar Braga left unremoved nearby a traffic light at the intersection of J.P. Laurel Avenue and Sta. Ana Avenue.
The post, with a hashtag #bagagnawong (impudent), said "Konsehal bonifacio militar ug konsehal pilar braga tan-awa ragud inyong poster nga klaro kaayo sa kanto jp laurel ug sta.ana ave. .human ninyo gihugaw-hugawan ang syudad di mo kabalo manglimpyo. 1 week na miagi ang eleksyon dipud mo tantong damak.. [sic] (Councilor Bonifacio Militar and Pilar Braga, your posters are still clearly visible in the intersections of J.P. Laurel Avenue and Sta. Ana Avenue. You can't even initiate removing these after you made the city dirty. It's been a week already after elections, you’re really not that filthy).
Militar's grandson and his chief of staff Bonz Militar immediately replied to the post, apologizing on behalf of the councilor's team.
"Actually 4th day na sa among baklas team n nag baklas sa syudad sa among mga campaign materials. Gipahulay sa namo sila pila ka adlaw after election .Sorry if dha na side wla pa nila na limpyo. Pasensya kaayo. . Daghang salamat ug pasensya ug dako.. -team militar [sic] (It's actually our fourth day of removing all the campaign posters in the city. We let the team in-charge rest for a few days after the elections. We apologize that we were not able to remove the posters in that area. Thank you and we apologize)," the younger Militar said.
In an interview with the councilor's staff, they said they still have 45 days to remove all their campaign posters in the city.
On Tuesday, Braga opted not to discuss the issue.
The lady councilor, meanwhile, said she even personally participated in the removal of her campaign posters.
"Ako mismo ang unang mitangtang. Pero sa kadaghan, di man nimo matangtang sa usa ka adlaw. (I was the first to remove my campaign posters. But because we posted these in a lot of areas, we cannot remove them all in just one day). It's going to be a work in progress," Braga said during the regular session at the Sangguniang Panlungsod.
Meanwhile, one of Braga's staff who personally reported the post to the councilor, said the media outlet did not reach out to them before posting it on their page.
As of this writing, posters in the said area have not yet been removed.
Meanwhile, a week after the midterm elections, posters of some other candidates have not yet been removed.
Commission on Elections-Davao Krisna Samantha Caballero had called all the candidates, both winning and losing, to immediately remove their campaign posters.
City Environment and Natural Resources Office chief Marivic Reyes also sought the help of the candidates in removing their posters to make the cleanup much faster.