The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on Thursday urged candidates to dispose their campaign materials properly.
DENR Secretary Jim Sampulna told the candidates in the 2022 national and local elections to clean up and dispose campaign materials in accordance with Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.
“Win or lose, these candidates must consider the long-term consequences of their campaign materials in the environment. Therefore, they must encourage their supporters and volunteers to take down these materials, especially those made of plastic, and dispose these properly,” he said.
The agency, along with the local government units, would be “at the beck and call” of the Commission on Elections to make sure that a resolution would be crafted requiring candidates to remove election materials after every campaign period.
“We will make sure that the existing environmental laws, such as RA 9003, will strengthen the resolution,” Sampulna said.
He called on the candidates to assemble their teams to “clean up voluntarily instead of being intimidated by possible violations after the election season.”
He recommended the recycling and upcycling campaign materials to lessen the by-products to be disposed of at dumps.
He said the Department of the Interior and Local Government, a member of DENR’s National Solid Waste Management Commission, has already disseminated an advisory to all local governments to remind them to strictly enforce the pertinent provisions of RA 9003.
Commission on Elections spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco also urged winning and losing
candidates to help them remove their campaign materials.
“We are asking all candidates, please continue cleaning up your campaign materials. Let us be environment friendly and compliant,” he said, adding that “if possible, let us recycle these materials. Don’t just throw them away anywhere.”
During the campaign period — 90 days for running for national positions and 45 days for local — candidates have put up tarpaulins, posters, among others, to promote their candidacy.