It is very disappointing that national candidates and their supporters continue to post illegal campaign materials outside common poster areas, Bacolod Elections Officer Revo Sorbito said on Friday, February 18.
Candidates have an obligation to remind their supporters to do what is right, Sorbito said.
The Commission on Elections-led Task Force Baklas removed more than 500 campaign materials of national candidates posted along the southern end of Araneta Avenue in Bacolod City on Friday, he said.
The task force removes illegally posted campaign materials every Friday.
Sorbito said it is the moral obligation of candidates, their political parties and supporters to level the playing field by posting legally-sized campaign materials in common poster areas.
“We should not look for grey areas, we should not look for ways to circumvent the law, we should take the opportunity to let the public see we are fair and just in the way that we are campaigning,” he said.
There are still a lot of oversized campaign materials posted outside common poster areas in Bacolod City, he said.
“It’s either we take down the illegally posted campaign material ourselves or we will be filing cases against them for violating the Fair Elections Act,” he said.
Task Force Baklas is composed of the Comelec, police and City Engineers Office personnel.*