Bayan Muna Party-List Rep. Carlos Zarate slammed the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) “Oplan Baklas” which sees the removal of posted campaign materials not compliant with the poll body's regulations.

“Nakita natin kung paanong ang pag-implementa ng ito ay lumalabag na rin sa karapatan ng ating mamamayan (We saw that the way Oplan Baklas was implemented has been in violation of citizens’ rights),” Zarate asserted during a virtual press conference Friday, Feb. 18.

Oplan Baklas officially began on Wednesday, Feb. 16. Since then, there have been reports of campaign materials being removed from private properties--something that can only be imposed with the power of a court-ordered search warrant.

“Meron tayong nakitang mga reports na paabot din sa atin na nasa private property na ay pinapasok ito, ini-implementa ito ng mg kagawad ng Comelec at ng kanilang (We are getting reports that the operation is affecting private properties, the implementation carried out by Comelec officials and) deputized law enforcement members without due process,” he said.

“Nananawagan tayo sa komisyon na i-repaso ang nilabas nitong mga (We are urging the Comelec to review the) guidelines in the conduct of the political campaign to give our people leeway doon sa conduct ng campaign para hindi din sila nasasangkaan yung kanilang karapatan (in conducting campaigns so that their rights are not violated) while of course still observing yung sinasabing minimum political health protocols,” he added.

One notable instance of the allegedly unconstitutional imposition of Oplan Baklas took place on Feb. 17, where police and military officers were recorded painting over a mural made in support of Vice President Leni Robredo’s campaign. The mural was said to have been painted on private property and privately-funded.

“Parang pinagbabawalan na rin makipag-participate ang marami nating bilang ng mamamayan dito sa ating political exercise (It’s as if a large number of our citizens have been restricted from participating in the political exercise),” Zarate said.

For their part, Comelec has said that enforcing Oplan Baklas is necessary to maintain “a level playing field".

“You have to regulate election propaganda because what you need to do is to level the playing field. If you were to pursue certain interpretations of jurisprudence to its logical conclusion, you would have a situation wherein a candidate can actually have an entire building covered with their election propaganda and no one would be able to do anything about it,” said Comelec spokesman James Jimenez on Feb. 18.