5 trucks of campaign trash collected in Manila

MANILA, Philippines - Five truckloads of campaign materials were collected in Manila over two days after the elections.

Mayor Joseph Estrada ordered the city’s department of public services and the parks development office a day after the elections to clean up Manila’s streets and public parks of campaign posters, streamers and other election materials.

Arsenic Lacson, who heads the parks development office, said they started the cleanup on Tuesday at Plaza Hugo in Sta. Ana, where they collected two truckloads of campaign trash.

Lacson also urged other candidates to help the city government clean up the mess left by three months of election campaign.

“Win or lose, candidates should be responsible in cleaning up their election mess,” he said, adding that the cleanup will take at least a week.

On Wednesday, parks development personnel cleaned up Plaza Lacson in Sta. Cruz, Plaza San Lorenzo Ruiz in Binondo, and Plaza Moriones and Plaza Morga in Tondo, where three more truckloads of campaign waste were collected.

“We returned to Plaza Moriones today (Thursday) because there are campaign materials posted on the posts. It’s difficult to remove the posters and the paint is being destroyed,” Lacson said.

Estrada said he gives special care to the city’s 48 parks, plazas, and monuments – all that remained of the old Manila’s pre-war and colonial architecture. Many have been converted to children’s playgrounds during the previous administrations.

These historic landmarks have been recently renovated under Estrada’s P100-million restoration program.