In what is considered a landmark case in Cebu City, two candidates for councilor are facing complaint before the Commission on Elections for posting campaign materials at a private property without permit.
Candidates Jerry Guardo of Team Rama and Alvin Arcilla of Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan were accused of placing posters at the property of Dennis Maravillas of Barangay Carreta without consent from the owner.
In his letter to the Comelec, Maravillas complained that there was no authority from him or his personnel the posting of campaign posters of the two candidates on the fence and gate of his truck yard, urging Guardo and Arcilla to remove those materials from his property.
North district election officer Marchel Sarno said he already informed Guardo and Arcilla about the complaint, noting that those campaign materials can be removed anytime if placed in a private property.
We have yet to hear any statement from the two candidates. But the public is pretty sure Guardo and Arcilla know that the complaint against them could affect their candidacies. For sure, they would say that they have nothing to do with the illegal posting of their campaign materials.
But there's already a complaint filed, which they are bound to answer because it's a valid one. Granting they are clueless about the posting of their campaign materials, still they cannot escape liability.
In the first place, it's their own posters that were the subject of the complaint. Guardo and Arcilla will definitely have a lot of explaining to do about how their posters managed to penetrate into a private property without the consent from the owner. Maravillas no longer has to go farther scouting for pieces of evidence because countless are already littered in his own backyard.
But since the case is the first of its kind being filed, the public's attention is now focused on the poll body. Every Comelec move on the complaint is now being closely watched. And we really hope that whatever decision should serve as lesson to all, that irresponsibility and abusiveness would always come with a price.