The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority has collected 29 truckloads of campaign posters and other election-related paraphernalia all over the metropolis during its clearing operations from March 1 to May 16.
The MMDA Metro Parkways Clearing Group said the volume of collection is equivalent to 200.37 tons or 705.34 cubic meters.
During post-election clearing operations, collected campaign trash reached 23.42 tons on May 14; 14.45 tons on May 15 and 17.08 tons on May 16 from major thoroughfares and vicinity of public schools in Metro Manila.
MMDA chairman Danilo Lim said the campaign materials will not be thrown away at landfills but will be converted to bags, place mats, baskets, school supplies, and other useful items.
Environmental groups who want to recycle the campaign materials may coordinate with the agency.
More than 100 personnel are involved in the taking down and removal of campaign materials in major thoroughfares and several public schools in Metro Manila.
On March 1, the government deputized various agencies and the police force to remove illegal posters and campaign materials for the midterm polls.
Environmentalist group Ecowaste Coalition has denounced candidates and their supporters for posting political billboards and other election campaign materials outside the designated areas in Metro Manila.
The group reported seeing election posters nailed or wired on trees, taped on electric posts and traffic signages and displayed on bridges, which constitute “prohibited forms of election propaganda” as per the Commission on Elections.
In the 2016 elections, the MMDA turned over to Ecowaste the removed illegal election campaign tarpaulins which were reproduced as seat covers, tents, and other usable items.
The tarpaulins were among the truckloads of illegal campaign materials removed by the MMDA from footbridges, lamp posts, cable wires, and trees during their operation dubbed as “Operation Baklas.”
The tarpaulins can also be repurposed into coin purses, pouch bags, grocery bags, and beach bags, and also be sewn into mail and shoe organizers, worker’s aprons, tool belts, laundry baskets and even as receptacles for office or household recyclables.