By Lou Ellen Antonio

ILIGAN CITY (PIA) – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) held another   ‘Operation Baklas’ to remove “unlawful” election materials posted by political candidates across the City.

The dismantling of prohibited campaign materials was spearheaded by the Task Force Baklas composed of Comelec, Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and Bureau of Fire Protection, The Philippine National Police and Philippine Army also provided security during the removal of campaign materials displayed outside the designated poster areas.

Lawyer Joel Dexter Nagtalon, acting city election officer, stated that the removal of campaign materials placed beyond the approved poster locations is in accordance with Comelec Resolution 10730 implementing the provisions of the Fair Election Act.  

“Ang tuyo ana [The purpose]  is to ensure that our streets, our public places are free of unauthorized campaign materials. Basically, all public places which are not designated as common poster areas are covered by Operation Baklas,” he said. 

Nagtalaon said there are common poster areas for the 44 barangays in the City. He added that the political parties are already aware of the authorized common poster areas in the entire city. Hence, posting outside the poster areas is illegal and is considered to be an election offense.

Pursuant to Comelec Resolution 10488, campaign posters should not be larger than 2 feet by 3 feet and should only be placed in communal poster places or private properties with the approval of the owners,

Moreover, posters and tarpaulins of political parties and party-list groups should be not more than 12 feet by 16 feet or 192 square feet in size, and stickers should be no more than 8.5 inches by 11 inches in size. (LELA/ PIA Lanao del Norte)