With the campaign period for local candidates starting in two weeks, Luntiang Pilipinas Party-list first nominee Michael Ubac on Thursday urged all candidates vying for public office to follow laws that prohibit the posting of campaign materials on trees, saying that the soon-to-be crowded designated areas for election materials may prompt supporters of candidates to post campaign materials in non-designated locations like trees.
“In an election, all candidates want to win, and everyone has diehard supporters who will do everything it takes to help their candidates win. It is therefore the responsibility of candidates to remind their supporters and rein them in from conducting overzealous campaign operations,” stressed Ubac.
“Section 20(a) of Comelec Resolution No. 10488 cannot be more clear than day; common poster area does not refer to a post, a tree, the wall of a building or an existing pubic structure.”
The veteran journalist added that trees around the country suffer during the campaign period because of campaign teams that are either ignorant of the law or have decided to ignore the law.
“Neither should it be tolerated,” said Ubac.
According to Ubac, Republic Act No. 3571 expressly prohibits “the cutting, destroying, or injuring of planted or growing trees in public places like roads, plazas, parks, and schools.”
Ubac also reminded candidates to familiarize their respective campaign staff with the provisions of Comelec (Commission on Elections) Resolution No. 10488 dated January 30, 2019, which clearly states that common areas for campaign posters do not include trees.
“Section 20(a) of Comelec Resolution No. 10488 cannot be more clear than day; common poster area does not refer to a post, a tree, the wall of a building or an existing pubic structure,” explained the UP and Harvard alumnus.
Furthermore, said Ubac, Section 20(b) of the same resolution says that “in no instance shall an election officer designate as common poster areas any trees, plants, shrubs located along public roads, in plazas, parks, school premises or in any other public grounds.”
Republic Act No. 3571 expressly prohibits the cutting, destroying, or injuring of planted or growing trees in public places like roads, plazas, parks, and schools.
Ubac encouraged voters to report candidates with campaign materials posted on trees to the Comelec so that the latter could warn candidates about the said violations.
