Group urges political candidates to observe environment-friendly campaign

“With the ongoing national campaign, election materials are visible everywhere. There are already numerous tarpaulins and advertisement banners – not to mention the balloons and confetti at every political rally. More of these types of wastes will be added to our current waste issues at the start of the local campaign on March 25,” IDIS said in a statement Friday.

The group said election advertisement banners  made with plastic do not decay well when buried and release toxic materials into the air when burned. 

“Like the illegally dumped wastes below the campaign materials, this type of waste are always left unattended,” the statement said.

“The banners are generally made of not recyclable materials and do not break down easily. We have called their use a setback to environmental goals, but the problem has largely been ignored when campaigning.” 

IDIS believed that the single-use plastic waste generated during the campaign causes choking of drainage, ingestion by stray animals, land, and water pollution, thereby causing adverse impact on human health and the environment.

Lawyer Mark Peñalver,  the IDIS executive director said this has been a recurring problem every election period. 

“We can see tarpaulin banners everywhere, even if not in their designated area – worst, several campaign materials are nailed through a tree. And after the election period, these materials will be left unattended, adding to the pile of waste at our landfill site,” he said.

He said these are also prohibited by  law.

Section 9 of the Fair Election Act of 2001 (RA 9006), posting of campaign materials may only be allowed in common poster areas in public places such as plazas, markets, barangay centers, and the like. 

COMELEC Resolution No. 10730, dated November 17, 2021, emphasized that “in no instance shall an election officer designate as common poster areas any trees, plants, shrubs in any public grounds.”

IDIS has called on the poll body to make sure that candidates will strictly comply to its policies, considering the problems already plaguing the city due to plastic pollution, climate change, and COVID-19.

“ We also urge government agencies to champion much-needed policies and practices that will protect our environment from further degradation due to the political activities leading to the 2022 elections.”

They also called on all candidates to clean up, win or lose, the wastes they produced during the campaign period.