'Do away with Thank You streamers'

MANILA, Philippines - Politicians were asked yesterday to avoid putting up “thank you” billboards, banners and posters.

Manny Calonzo of EcoWaste Coalition said politicians must be environmentally sensitive.

“We appeal to all politicos to please resist the temptation

of putting up ‘thank you’ tarpaulins that can only add to post-election garbage woe,” he said.

“Please understand that we have yet to clear the streets of campaign materials used in the last election and here you are aggravating the mess with a new wave of tarpaulins.”

Calonzo said campaign materials remained in Arnaiz, C. Jose, F. B. Harrison and Zamora, and adjacent streets in Pasay City as of May 16.

“They surely can express their gratitude by going out in the streets and leading the community to remove and recycle unsightly campaign materials,” he said.

“Above all, the most meaningful ‘thank you’ that politicians can make is to offer the people real honest-to-goodness public service minus self aggrandizement and corruption.”

EcoWaste Coalition volunteers have monitored the sprouting of “thank you” messages that are usually placed in major thoroughfares and in pedestrian overpasses and footbridges.

Reports reaching the EcoWaste secretariat showed that “thank you” tarpaulins have been spotted in various parts of the metropolis like España Boulevard, Lacson Avenue, Ongpin Street, Roxas Boulevard and Plaza Miranda in Manila, Quezon Memorial Circle, E. Rodriguez Avenue and Commonwealth Avenues in Quezon City, Nueve de Febrero Street and Martinez Street in Mandaluyong, and along the South Luzon Expressway in Parañaque.

EcoWaste believes saying “thank you” can be done without causing environmental degradation.

Calonzo said politicos can thank their constituents by organizing feeding programs for street children, the elderly and indigents.

Another option is to donate funds meant to print and install tarpaulins to support charitable causes like the children cancer ward of the Philippine General Hospital, or to help victims of recent fires in Metro Manila, he added.

Meanwhile, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is pinpointing areas littered with election paraphernalia.

Juan Miguel Cuna, Environmental Management Bureau director, said they are now awaiting reports from regional directors on areas teeming with campaign materials.

“We already gave instructions for concerned officials to give us updates concerning regions that have not yet been subjected to cleanup,” he said.

Cuna said they will hold the concerned political party and their candidates responsible for the mess.

Violators could be prosecuted under the Local Government Code and Republic Act 9003, Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.

Cuna said they will also encourage candidates to recycle the materials used in the election campaign.

“Apart from coordinating with the local garbage collector, we advise them to even make use of existing materials recovery facilities,” he said.

DepEd: Help clean up schools

The Department of Education (DepEd) asked the public yesterday to help clean schools used as polling places in preparation for the opening of classes on June 15.

Education Secretary Mona Valisno said many schools had been defaced by campaign posters and paraphernalia.

“I enjoin residents to do their share in the cleanup as schools are the collective responsibility of the communities it serves,” she said.

“It is unfortunate that despite our ‘Clean Schools, Clean Elections’ policy, many of the politicians plastered our schools and the places around it with all types of campaign materials – some of our schools actually look like a jungle of tarps and posters from the outside.”

Valisno said she was joining the call of greens for politicians to dispense with the “thank you” tarpaulins so as not to add to the volume of trash generated during the campaign period.

“The time for campaigning has ended, now it’s cleanup time,” she said.

Valisno directed schools to take down or remove all signs within school premises showing commercial advertisements, words of sponsorships or endorsements of any nature.

“The DepEd has a long standing policy that prohibits commercialization of our schools through endorsements or accreditation of goods or services,” she said. 

Valisno issued DepEd Order No. 37 to reiterate the policy against advertisements or endorsements in schools, according to Assistant Secretary Jonathan Malaya, DepEd spokesman. — With Rainier Allan Ronda