Comelec Central Office to decide on sanctions against poll campaign materials’ violators

Comelec personnel take down oversized and illegally campaign posters in Cebu City on Monday, April 8, in line with the province-wide simultaneous Oplan Baklas. | Photo courtesy  of Comelec Election Assistant Omar Sharif Mamalinta

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Commission on Election Central Office will decide on the sanctions of the candidates, who have been found violating the election rule on campaign materials.

Ronnie Amistoso, records section-in-charge of the Provincial Commission on Election Office, said they would submit the inventory of confiscated campaign materials during Monday’s province-wide implementation of Oplan Baklas to the Comelec Central Office in Manila.

Amistoso said that aside from submitting the inventory of confiscated campaign materials to the head office, they would also provide the names of those candidates, who violated the campaign materials rule, and the Central office would decide on the proper sanctions to impose on those candidates.

Under the Omnibus Election Code and Fair Elections Act, acceptable campaign materials should not exceed 2 feet by three feet in size and should only be posted in areas designated by the local Comelec Offices as common poster areas.

Read more: Comelec tells local candidates to start removing all prohibited campaign materials

In Cebu City North District on Monday afternoon, Comelec personnel accompanied by the city police patrolled the roads near their office in Barangay San Roque, passing through Pahina Central, Sambag I, Kalubihan then leading to Hipodromo, Mabolo and Luz.

“Dili man gyud nato madala og tantang og usa ra ka adlaw sa kadtong obvious nga illegally posted and oversized campaign materials ang ato gyud nga gitangtang,” Omar Sharif Mamalinta, Comelec election assistant, told CDN Digital.

(We cannot take down everything injust a day so we took down those campaign materials that are obviously illegally posed and oversized.)

Mamalinta said that for their part, they have already sent communications to candidates urging them to voluntarily take down their illegally posted materials last Friday, April 5.

The seized election materials are temporarily held by respective local Comelec offices pending inventory and disposal./dbs