THE Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has issued a warning to the public regarding the display of campaign materials or commercial advertisements on its lampposts.
Under MMDA Regulation No. 24-001 Series of 2024, it is strictly prohibited to rent lampposts for advertising or private announcements.
Only the MMDA, organizers of the Metro Manila Film Festival, and government agencies are permitted to attach informative announcements to the lamp posts owned and maintained by the MMDA.
Additionally, election campaign posters are prohibited, and all materials for hanging or posting on lamp posts must be approved by the director of MMDA Metro Parkway Clearing Group (MPCG).
MMDA spokesperson Sharon Gentalian told Manila Standard that they came up with this warning after a private company installed an unauthorized commercial advertisement on a lamp post situated on a major thoroughfare in the metropolis.
The MMDA emphasized that all materials to be attached to the lamp post must be approved by the MMDA, and unauthorized materials will be immediately removed.
Violators will be fined P5,000 for each lamppost used, and could face criminal, civil, and administrative charges.
This early, election campaign materials such as streamers and posters have already begun to appear across Metro Manila and several provinces, featuring faces and names of candidates eyeing the May 2025 midterm elections.
In Laguna, for instance, posters and tarpaulins of three congressmen and the wife of a party-list representative, who are planning to run for local positions next year, have been posted in various locations in the province.
These materials, which do not include the word "vote," but mentioned the title of the position they are running for, are displayed in undesignated areas such as lamp posts, trees, and bridge railings.
