The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said Saturday it will go full blast on the dismantling of election campaign materials illegally posted along bridges and major thoroughfares nationwide.

DPWH spokesman and Undersecretary for Luzon Romeo Momo said the removal of these posters and streamers is in compliance with the resolution issued by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) which seeks to ensure that campaign materials will not obstruct traffic lights and directional and warning signs.

“As for the bridges, we need to remove these campaign materials because they ruin the aesthetic beauty of our bridges, and it so happens that the DPWH has an ongoing bridges painting program to preserve the structures,” he said.

He said the DPWH will issue a department order instructing regional directors to utilize their maintenance personnel and members of the OYSTERS (Out-of-School Youth Serving Toward Economic Resiliency) on the dismantling of these campaign materials.

They will be tasked to tear down the posters pasted on bridges or on traffic signages, directional signs, and guard rails. Those posted along national roads will also be dismantled, he said.

The Comelec resolution covers the removal of streamers, posters, advertisements, billboards, and other propaganda materials highlighting the accomplishments of incumbent officials running in the May10 elections.

Aside from the DPWH, the Comelec has also tapped the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) for this undertaking in Metro Manila.

Momo said the confiscated campaign materials would be stored in the DPWH offices for inventory. They will later be turned over to the Comelec.

“We do not intend to return the campaign materials to the candidates because they might just use them again,” he said.

Meanwhile, there is no stopping in the operations of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) against politicians indiscriminately posting their election paraphernalia as the Comelec formally deputized the agency to remove, confiscate, and destroy prohibited propaganda materials relative to the upcoming May 10 polls.

“This resolution will further strengthen our operations. Nobody can question the legality of what we are doing now with this deputation order,” MMDA Chairman Oscar Inocentes.

With the development, Inocentes warned the election candidates to police their own people and educate them as to the designated poster areas because they will not hesitate to destroy the election materials.

“Adhere strictly to the law and put campaign materials only on common poster areas designated by Comelec. We will remove all illegal posters regardless of the personalities, political parties, or affiliations involved,” Inocentes stressed.

Upon the orders of the MMDA chairman, the agency’s Roadway / Sidewalk Clearing Operations Group (RSCOG) have been working hard in tearing down illegal campaign posters strewn along Metro Manila’s major thoroughfares.

Dubbed as “Oplan Baklas”, the MMDA has removed various campaign materials along Epifanio delos Santos Avenue (EDSA), Taft Avenue, Monumento, Quezon Avenue, and Ramon Magsaysay Boulevard. (With a report from Anna Liza T. Villas)