Comelec to national bets: Remove illegal campaign materials in 3 days
The Commission on Election (Comelec) officially begins “Operation Baklas” (Operation Dismantle) drive against illegal campaign materials of national candidates for the May elections. (Photo by Office of the Chairman/Comelec)
MANILA, Philippines — Remove your campaign materials or face penalty for election offense, Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman George Erwin Garcia warned May 2025 candidates on Tuesday.
His warning was particularly directed to senatorial candidates and party-lists as the campaign period for the May 13 elections officially began.
“Nakita na namin yung mga pangalan ng mga involved, national candidates o party-list, and susulatan na lang namin sila upang ipatanggal sa kanila within a period of three days ‘yung mga materials na illegally posted,” Garcia said at the sidelines of the kick-off of “Oplan Baklas.”
(We have seen the names of those involved, national candidates, and party-lists, and we will write them a letter for them to remove within three days the campaign materials illegally posted.)
“Sa atin pong rules, kapag hindi tinanggal, election offense at diskwalipikasyon ang haharapin po nila,” Garcia added.
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(Based on our rules, they will face an election offense and disqualification if they do not dismantle.)
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Garcia noted that campaign materials are considered illegal if they do not follow appropriate sizes, are not made of the right materials, and are posted on electric posts or trees.
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According to Comelec Resolution No. 11111, election propaganda must be made of cloth, paper, cardboard or any recyclable materials.
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When asked when a violation can be considered an election offense, Garcia answered that it is based on non-obedience after a notice is issued.
“Hindi pinag-uusapan yung lala kung hindi, pinag-uusapan yung hindi tinanggal matapos kaming sumulat. Yun pong notice yung due process na tinatawag,” the poll chief said.
(We are not talking about gravity, and instead, we are talking about the non-removal after we have written the letter. The notice is called due process.)
“Una, pag illegally posted materials, kahit walang notice, pwede naming tanggalin. Pero sa susunod, para sila na ang mahirapang magtanggal,” he noted.
(First, we can tear down materials that are illegally posted even without notice. So next time, they will have a hard time dismantling them down.)
He mentioned that there was no directive to burn the campaign materials they collected, as it would harm the environment.
Meanwhile, Garcia noted that no campaign materials of local candidates were stripped down since their campaign period will start on March 28.
However, he said that the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and local government units have the authority to confiscate and take down materials of local bets if proven to violate their ordinances and regulations.