THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Bacolod City will start removing campaign posters considered illegal in February 2022, its top official said.
City Election Officer Kathrina Trinio-Cana said yesterday, November 17 that the campaign period will start on February 8, 2022, for the national level and in March for the local candidates.
"For now, we don’t have any authority to remove the posters or campaign materials of the candidates," Trinio-Cana said.
Photos posted on social media Wednesday showed some personnel assigned at the public plaza taking down a poster of a candidate in the area.
General Services Office head Guilda Lluisima said she was informed by Jun Te, who is in charge of the public plaza, that the posters were taken down as no special permits were issued allowing these campaign materials to be placed in the area.
Lluisima said the City Legal Enforcement Team and the City Engineer’s Office personnel are ordered to take down posters hung in public areas without necessary permits.
Trinio-Cana, for her part, said the city government has the right to regulate the illegal posters hung in public places since it’s not yet the time of the ] mm,kcampaign period.
"We have existing ordinances and the candidates should also observe the proper posting of their posters," she said.
Aside from the city government, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) can also remove the posters hung in trees, Trinio-Cana added.
Before the start of the campaign period, Trinio-Caña disclosed, the Comelec will identify the common poster areas in various barangays and notify the candidates.