DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 15 May) — Davao City-based environmental group Interfacing Development Interventions (IDIS) called on winners and losers in the May 9 polls to collect and dispose of their campaign paraphernalia properly.
IDIS executive director Atty. Mark Peñalver said, in a statement on Wednesday, that almost a week after the May 9, 2022 National and Local elections, several campaign materials are uncollected, many of them left on sidewalks and open areas.
“We call on our candidates, winners and those who did not make it, to please collect their campaign materials and dispose of them properly as mandated under EO 15 series of 2022,” he said.
The local government of Davao released Executive Order 15 released April 27, ordering all local candidates to create their respective teams to retrieve, re-use, and recycle all local and national election paraphernalia in the city on May 10, 11, and 12.
“Even before the campaign period, we already called on the candidates to engage in clean, wasteless, if not, less waste campaign activities. We are glad that Mayor Sara issued EO 15 series of 2022 mandating local candidates to create a team to collect their campaign materials and reuse, recycle, and repurpose the same,” he added.
He said some candidates started retrieving their campaign materials a day after the elections.
Among the candidates who even helped retrieve these materials were Luna Acosta (HNP) who placed second in the first district City Council race and Mags Maglana (Independent) who was among three candidates who challenged the reelection bid of Rep. Paolo Duterte. Duterte was reelected.
“We also noticed that in some areas, campaign materials are gathered and left unattended in open areas which might be carried by rainwater runoff and will cause clogging of our drainage,” he said.
Section 2 of the EO 15 provides that all “local candidates must create their clean-up teams and participate in three-day activity within their district.”
It added that all elections paraphernalia collected during the clean-up should not be thrown into garbage bins and collection points.
It requires them to have the paraphernalia recycled and delivered to recycling centers.
In a press release released May 13, IDIS said it documented piles of election wastes in the Catalunan Pequeno and Talomo areas.
“If allowed to remain, this can cause choking of drainage systems, urban wildlife ingestion, and waste pollution, and grow larger and may attract both solid and hazardous waste dumping, thereby generating an adverse impact on humans and the environment,” it said. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
