THE Cagayan de Oro City Local Environment and Natural Resources Office (Clenro) on Tuesday, May 17, led a city-wide clean up tearing down campaign posters, tarps, and other materials left over from last week’s elections.
Clenro chief Edwin Dael said they were expecting representatives from candidates to help the post-campaign cleanup but no one came.
Dael said its office is planning to conduct another cleanup drive with the bets’ candidates presence.
“Plano namo next time nga cleanup, i-involve namo ang mga candidates daog man or pildi, magpadala gayud mi ug formal letters nila para pud mapatud-an nila ilang sense of commitment and responsibility sa environment regardless sa results kay ato man kining responsibilidad,” Dael said.
The cleanup drive was done exactly a week after the election day and after Clenro officials waited for the candidates themselves to take down their campaign materials.
Only barangay Carmen did a cleanup last week.
“Kung pwede unta mag-anam na ug kuha sa ilang campaign trash ang mga kandidato kay usahay magkulang pa kita ug manpower,” he said.
Dael also urged bets’ groups to recycle the trash collected, specifically the tarpaulins, so that these will not add to the tons of trash that the city already produces every day.
Dael said a women’s group has already reached out to them and asked them to recycle the discarded tarps into handbags.
Interested students and city residents are also encouraged to join the next leg of cleanup drive next week.
Earlier, the Clenro said there is a possibility that campaign materials may cause a slight increase in the garbage collected daily but Dael said they have yet to consolidate the garbage gathered during Tuesday’s cleanup.
"Operation baklas"
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)-Northern Mindanao has removed more than a thousand pieces of campaign materials during its "operation baklas" along the national highway.
Vina Maghinay, DPWH-Northern Mindanao acting information officer, said that last April alone there were 390 pieces of local campaign posters and 430 national campaign materials removed by the agency's maintenance personnel in the two district offices.
Maghinay said the materials removed last month have been turned over to the regional office of the Comelec while the assorted campaign materials recently removed are still at the district office.
Maghinay also said DPWH's maintenance personnel were tasked to continually removed campaign materials that were hanged in the national highway to clean the area especially that the election had already concluded.
She said the DPWH also routinely removes ad materials that obstruct the view of motorists.
"Bisan not election period, DPWH has a Department Order (DO) 217, series of 2000, prohibiting the installation of ads, billboards, within road right of way of the national roads to avoid hazards sa mga motorista," Maghinay said.