MMDA to clean up posters on Taft Avenue

MANILA, Philippines - The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will start removing campaign posters and streamers along Taft Avenue today as part of its one-week self-imposed deadline to rid Metro Manila’s streets of campaign materials.

MMDA Chairman Oscar Inocentes, who will lead the clean-up, said some 520 workers, equipped with five man-lifter trucks and four fire trucks, will be deployed from Baclaran in Parañaque City to Monumento in Caloocan City starting at 9 a.m.

“We have been working every day and we will not stop until our major thoroughfares are cleaned up. I am still hoping that the candidates, especially those who won, will join us or at least have the heart to voluntarily remove their campaign posters and streamers from the streets,” he said.

The MMDA started the clean-up after elections ended last Monday. The agency has so far cleared EDSA, Roxas Boulevard, C-5, McArthur Highway, R-10, Commonwealth Avenue, and Marcos Highway.

Yesterday morning, MMDA clearing teams were deployed to President Quirino Avenue, Ramon Magsaysay Boulevard, President Osmeña Highway, Araneta Avenue, España Boulevard, Quezon Avenue, and Ortigas Avenue. The MMDA said the clean-up of the major streets is 90 percent complete.

“We are right on schedule. By next week, we will be moving to the secondary and tertiary roads and hopefully the local government units concerned will cooperate with us,” Inocentes said.

Meanwhile, police officers from the Manila Police District removed posters along Avenida and Blumentritt in Sta. Cruz and Quiapo. They were assisted by volunteer firefighters who hosed down the posters, which had been pasted on walls and other surfaces, to make them easier to remove.

Superintendent Nelson Yabut, who heads the Meisic police station, said the clean-up is part of the police force’s “athletic activity.” The clean-up was replicated in other areas of Manila.