THE Department of the Interior and Local Government-Davao Region (DILG-Davao) has reminded local government units (LGUs) and election candidates to remove all campaign-related waste materials.
DILG-Davao Director Alex Roldan told SunStar Davao in a phone interview that the central office had already issued an advisory reminding the LGU and candidates to take down their campaign paraphernalia within three days after the election, but these materials have not yet been removed in some areas.
"Kung di na siya himuon, mahimo na siyang gamiton na ebidensya (If they won’t do it, it can be used as evidence) for dereliction of duty sa mga local government,” he said.
Roldan said some LGUs in the region were already "60 to 70 percent compliant" to the order.
Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said in an advisory that candidates are also reminded that the disposal of the election materials should coincide with “environmental laws and local ordinances and regulations against illegal dumping, open burning, and littering.”
“Impose the responsibility to the organizers of political activities, to ensure that waste generated by their activities, and their attendees will be properly managed and disposed of,” Año said in the advisory.
Commission on Elections-Davao Region (Comelec-Davao) assistant regional director Gay Enumerables also reminded candidates to start removing their posters now that the election is over.
Outgoing Davao City Mayor and presumptive Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio on Monday, May 16, also urged Dabawenyos to report election campaign materials that have not yet been removed or taken down by candidates in the 2022 local and national elections.
The mayor cited Executive Order No. 15, Series of 2022, mandating local candidates to retrieve, re-use, and recycle all national and local election campaign paraphernalia.
“Kung atoang kaigsuunan nga Dabawenyo dunay makita [na paraphernalia] pwede nilang ipadala sa atoa ang picture sa Davao City Disaster Radio na account na messenger para mapadala nato sa mga kandidato para ma-retrieve nila ilang materials (Should you see any paraphernalia you can send the picture to Davao City Disaster Radio messenger account so that we can send it to the candidates for them to retrieve their materials),” Mayor Sara said.
She, however, noted that the teams of the local candidates have already started cleaning up streets and poster areas.
The mayor also issued E.O. 15 s. 2022 in April mandating all local candidates to create their respective teams to retrieve, re-use, and recycle all local and national election paraphernalia in the city of Davao on May 10, 11, and 12, 2022.
The same order urges local and national candidates to be responsible in ensuring that their campaign materials are properly disposed of and managed after election day as this paraphernalia will no longer serve their purpose.
“There is a need to ensure that proper disposal of these campaign materials is observed to avoid contributing to more waste products and to promote effective waste management in the city,” the EO reads.
City Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro) head Engr. Marivic Reyes said that as of May 17, 2022, approximately 80 percent of the total campaign paraphernalia scattered across Davao City had been collected for proper disposal.
Reyes said the segregation of campaign materials is underway and those recyclables will be recycled. The non-reusable campaign materials will end up in the city landfills. The reusable materials will be handed over to local livelihood organizations that can recycle them into usable products. (With reports from CIO)