The Antipolo City local government has started the removal of various campaign materials in different parts of the city on Monday, May 12, way ahead of the May 17 deadline set by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) following the conclusion of the midterm elections.

In his social media post, Antipolo City Mayor Jun Ynares posted photos of city government employees detaching campaign posters and other paraphernalia from the city's roads and highways and urged all candidates to immediately remove their campaign materials in Antipolo.

"Kahit May 17 pa ang deadline, gabi ng May 12 pa lamang, ilang oras matapos ng botohan, ay pinasimulan na natin ang pagtatanggal ng mga campaign materials ng lahat ng mga kandidato lokal man o nasyonal para balik linis at ganda ang ating lungsod (Even though the deadline is on May 17, on the evening of May 12, just hours after the election, we began removing campaign materials from all local and national candidates so that our city can be clean and beautiful again)," Ynares said.

"Salamat po sa ating mga masisipag na General Services Office personnel na kahit holiday, kahit inabot pa ng ulan, ay matiyagang ginampanan ang kanilang tungkulin. Kudos po sa inyo (Thank you to all our hard-working General Services Office personnel who despite the holiday and the rain, patiently performed and fulfilled their duties. Kudos to all of you)," he added.

The Comelec reminded all those who ran in the May midterm elections to remove all their election materials and paraphernalia, including social media contents, within five days after the elections. 

"Ayon sa ating resolution na implementation ng ating Fair Elections Act, they have five days to remove their campaign materials and that includes their posts on social media kung direktang campaign material (According to our resolution implementing our Fair Elections Act, they have five days to remove their campaign materials and that includes their posts on social media if they are direct campaign material)," Comelec Spokesperson Rex Laudiangco said.

“It will be deemed as an election offense. Hindi man po mahabol pa ng disqualification, sabihin na natin wala ng time mag-file, meron pa rin naman pong election offense case (Even if disqualification cannot be pursued, let's just say there is no time to file, there is still an election offense case),” he added.