By Jel Santos
Nearly 170 tons of campaign materials, which are now up for recycling, were collected by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) from March 1 to May 14.
Election campaign materials litter the street as the country's midterm elections draw to a close Monday, May 13, 2019 in Manila, Philippines. Monday's midterm elections highlighted a showdown between President Rodrigo Duterte's allies who aim to dominate the Senate and an opposition fighting for check and balance under a leader they regard as a looming dictator. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)
MMDA's Metro Parkway Clearing Group (MPCG) said they collected 23.42 tons of campaign materials on May 14, while from March 1 to May 12 they got 145 tons.
The 145 tons collected were removed because they were placed outside the designated areas of Commission on Elections (Comelec), the agency said.
“All in all, we have collected so far 168.84 tons of campaign trash this midterm elections,” Francis Martinez, MPCG head, said on Wednesday.
The cities of Manila, Quezon, Parañaque and Makati produced the most number of campaign materials, he added.
He said that environmental groups that want to recycle the collected campaign materials may coordinate with them.
According to Martinez, the materials were stored at the flyovers in Santolan and Nagtahan for sorting and recycling.
“Various groups in need of candidates’ tarpaulins to recycle them into bags, place mats, school supplies and other useful items can coordinate with us,” the MPCG chief said.
This mid-term poll’s collected campaign material, he said, is lower than of 2016 national elections that had 206 tons.
The collected campaign materials were tarpaulins, buntings, posters, wirings, leaflets, sample ballots, and flyers.
Danilo Lim, MMDA chairman, said they are targeting to rid major thoroughfares of campaign materials and spruce up public schools until this week so the public can prepare for the opening of classes next month.