The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is studying the possibility of disqualifying candidates who will fail to make use of biodegradable materials in their campaign activities.

This was according to Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia, who recently wrote to the Comelec En Banc regarding the creation of a Committee on Environmentally Sustainable Elections.

"Kasama na yun lahat: air pollution, kasama na yung sustainability, kasama na yung paggamit ng mga kagamitan na kahit paano biodegradable (It includes everyting: from air pollution, as well as sustainability, and also the use of materials that are somehow biodegradable)," Garcia said in an interview on Wednesday, June 19, referring to the policies that will be crafted.

"Ibig sabihin po dapat may policy direction na, yan po sa ating mga guidelines ay dapat included na yung paano poprotektahan ang ating kalikasan (This means there should be a policy direction, it should also be included in the guidelines how the environment will be protected)," he added.

Asked regarding the possible penalty a violating candidate may incur, Garcia said: "Siyempre po ipapalagay natin dapat diyan disqualification at saka kasong election offense sa hindi pagtalima sa guidelines o patakaran ng inyong Comelec (Of course, we'd like to put disqulification and an election offense case for failure to follow the guidelines set by Comelec)."

Garcia said that the Comelec En Banc has already approved the recommendation for the creation of the committee which will be headed by Commissioner Ernesto Maceda.

"Atin din po siyang naatasan na mag draft ng guidelines at policy direction paano papasakatuparan ng Comelec yung tinatawag na sustainable elections hindi lang sa 2025 kundi sa mga susunod na halalan (We also tasked him to draft the guidelines and policy direction on how the Comelec would accomplish the so-called sustainable elections not only in 2025 but also in the upcoming elections)," he added.

The poll chief wrote to the en banc on June 6, regarding the creation of this committee that will study, and propose measures that will minimize the environmental impact of campaign activities, such as rallies and sorties, and the production and eventual disposal of campaign materials.

The said committee would be guided by the current environmental laws, rules and regulations as well as the current best practices in terms of environmental sustainability in elections and recommendations of environmental groups and election stakeholders.

In a separate interview, Maceda said that this is long overdue because every election, the impact goes beyond campaigning and voting because the "environmental imprint" of electoral exercises is the generation of waste, pollution, resource depletion, and violation of environmental laws as well as Comelec rules and regulation.

"We felt within the Comelec it's about time that we focus not just on our duties in making sure of our electoral integrity. But electoral integrity must go hand-in-hand with environmental integrity," he said.