MANILA, Philippines — A waste and pollution watchdog called on voters to not litter sample ballots in schools and other designated polling centers on the election day on May 9.
In a statement Wednesday, EcoWaste Coalition asked voters to prepare their own “kodigo” of candidates to vote for.
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“Aside from choosing pro-people and pro-environment candidates, we urge voters to shun ‘sample ballots’ and not litter them anywhere,” said EcoWaste Coalition national coordinator Aileen Lucero said.
She added that the Commission on Elections should enforce the ban on the distribution of sample ballots with names of candidates on election day as it “is clearly a partisan political activity.”
The group also urged candidates in the national and local elections to immediately take down campaign materials from common poster areas and unauthorized places come May 10.
“Win or lose, we urge them to switch to clean-up mode and voluntarily remove campaign materials for recycling, reusing or repurposing,” Lucero said.
“Candidates should be considerate and not leave the task of clearing up our communities of campaign materials solely to government personnel,” she said, adding they should dedicate resources for the job of removing posters and stickers.
EcoWaste Coalition noted that any clean-up operations should be done in accordance with the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act and other environmental laws to protect public health and ecosystems. — Gaea Katreena Cabico