Students pass through a common campaign poster area at the Sibalom Municipal Plaza on March 27, 2025. Commission on Elections Deputy Executive Director for Operations Rafael Olaño on Thursday (March 27, 2025) once again called on local candidates to remove their illegal campaign posters as they could be used as evidence for the filing of an election offense. (PNA photo by Annabel Consuelo J. Petinglay)
SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday reiterated its call for local candidates in Antique to remove their illegal campaign posters and not wait for government personnel to remove them through “Operation Baklas.”
“Comelec could remove the illegal, oversized posters, but then these will be used as evidence on the election offense against the candidates,” Comelec Deputy Executive Director for Operations Rafael Olaño said in a media interview here after attending the meeting of the Provincial Joint Security Control Center (PJSCC) at the Antique Provincial Police Office (APPO).
The poll body official issued the warning on the eve of the official start of the campaign period for local candidates in the May 12 elections.
Illegal campaign posters are those placed outside of designated campaign poster areas, oversized, or with non-environment-friendly materials.
Olaño said once the Comelec sees an illegal poster during the campaign period, it will write a letter asking the candidate to remove it within 72 hours or face an election offense.
Meanwhile, Olaño reiterated that under Comelec Minute Resolution 24-1001, elected barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan officials could engage in partisan political activities in the upcoming elections.
“Government workers are prohibited, however, from engaging in partisan politics,” he said.
He added government workers may express their preferences among the candidates as citizens but they are not allowed to publicly campaign for them.
In a separate interview, APPO director Lt. Col. Lea Rose Peña said there will be around 412 police personnel from the Police Regional Office 6 that would be deployed on election day as augmentation force.
She assured the public that they have prepared a contingency plan to realize an honest, orderly, and peaceful election.
The province of Antique only has one area of concern, the municipality of Tobias Fornier, due to intense political rivalry. (PNA)