Cebu City folks told to remove illegal posters

2/11/10 - CAMPAIGN materials not posted in designated areas by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) could be removed by any resident in Cebu City, Mayor Tomas Osmeña said yesterday.“I am deputizing everyone in the city. If you see someone posting something in the telephone posts and not in the designated posting area, please take them out,” he told reporters following a Mass for the late councilor Rogelio “Jing-Jing” Osmeña at Cebu City Hall.The Comelec Cebu City office drew up a list of 46 designated posting areas in Cebu City. The posters should measure two feet by three feet. “We have selected the areas that the public could easily see,” Comelec election officer Marchel Sarno told CEBU DAILY NEWS. The designated posting areas consist of barangay halls, sports centers and basketball courts but exceptions include barangays Santo Niño, Capitol Site and San Roque. Poster areas consist of Cebu City Hall, Fuente Osmeña Circle and Plaza Independencia respectively. “Violating these guidelines may result to their disqualification to hold an office or imprisonment,” Sarno said. He also welcomed the mayor’s announcement and asked the public to remove any campaign materials posted on non-designated areas.In yesterday's “Talakayan sa Isyong Pulis (TSIP),” Comelec provincial supervisor Lionel Marco Castillano said posting campaign materials on homes or commercial establishments could only be done with the consent of homeowners.“Ambot nganu ganahan mani sila ug poste ug kahoy. Basin tungod kay visible mani sa mga tao (I don't know why they want to place materials on posts or wood. Maybe because it is visible to the people),” Castillano said. Also covered as designated areas are waiting sheds, public markets or in front of the barangay halls. As far as police assistance in removing posters are concerned, Senior Supt. Erson Digal, chief of the provincial police, said they cannot do this.Still, the provincial police managed to arrest 25 persons on illegal possession of firearms charges days after the gun ban took effect last month. The Police Regional Office in Central Visayas said they confiscated 54 firearms in region seven since Jan. 10.The Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) seized the most number of firearms with nine small arms and one high powered firearm. The election gun ban ends on June 9.

(Inquirer)