Oct 25 polls campaign off to festive, messy start

Street parties, motorcades, and – as expected – campaign posters and streamers outside designated poster areas highlighted a festive and messy start to the campaign period for the Oct. 25 barangay (village) and Sangguniang Kabataan (youth council) elections Thursday. In Manila, radio dzBB’s Roland Bola reported that a street party and motorcade kicked off the campaign period in the city’s Baseco compound. Large campaign posters were placed on walls of commercial establishments along Quezon Boulevard in Quiapo, while posters and tarpaulins were hung on phone lines in some areas. In Quezon City, radio dzBB’s Paulo Santos reported that the festive frenzy started at midnight Wednesday, when the campaign period for the elections officially began. Tarpaulins and banners were placed on trees and electric posts in many parts of the city, the report said, adding that some campaign materials were also hung on electric wires. Many walls also became virtual mosaics as candidates and their supporters placed campaign posters there.

Ironically, it was in Quezon City where an environmental group had appealed to candidates in the Oct. 25 elections to campaign without harming the environment. EcoWaste Coalition said the elections will be an “exceptional platform" for would-be public servants to make a stand for the environment. The group gave a list of do’s for candidates, including:

• Set up segregated waste bins for biodegradable and non-biodegradable discards in campaign assemblies;
• Designate “eco-volunteers" to look after the bins and guide the public in the proper separation of their discards;
• Clean up right after the campaign event; and
• Hire eco-aides to handle the segregated wastes for recycling and composting.

On the other hand, it gave candidates seeking 336,200 village positions a list of don’ts such as:

• Nailing, hanging and pasting of campaign materials on trees and other places prohibited by the Commission on Elections (Comelec);
• Spending beyond the Comelec ceiling of P3 per registered voter in the barangay;
• Producing too much campaign materials that only end up as garbage;
• Driving smoke-belching vehicles in campaign motorcades;
• Blasting extremely loud political jingles and speeches;
• Leaving trash in campaign sorties;
• Failing to remove campaign materials immediately after the polls;
• Throwing confetti, exploding firecrackers or releasing balloons in campaign events; and
• Using Styrofoam, plastic bags and other single-use containers for volunteers’ meals and drinks.

The group added candidates should refrain from using excessive campaign materials such as leaflets, pamphlets, posters, stickers, decals, cloth and tarpaulin streamers, and other campaign paraphernalia. It said propaganda materials should be in post-consumer recycled paper and carry a friendly reminder that says “para sa ating kalusugan at kalikasan, huwag pong ikalat, itambak o sunugin (for our health and the environment, do not litter)" or its equivalent in local dialects. Candidates should refrain from using campaign materials that are hardly reused or recycled such as confetti, buntings and balloons, which often get burned or discarded in waterways, seas and dumpsites, it added.— LBG, GMANews.TV