DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines – As the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) reiterates the strict enforcement of rules on posting of campaign materials, the electricity provider in Negros Oriental has warned candidates against using its electric posts for their posters.
Negros Oriental 2 Electric Cooperative (NORECO II) General Manager Eunora Sameon said using its electric posts and other facilities is strictly prohibited as per Board Resolution No. 181 as the presence of campaign materials can prejudice the safety of linemen during regular maintenance work.
Sameon said it is possible that billboards, posters, streamers and the like that are attached to electric posts can get entangled with the linemen’s gear and/or hide dangerous metals like nails, tacks, and staple wires from view – all of which can harm the linemen while they go up and down the posts during maintenance work.
The cooperative has fielded a pole inventory team to conduct periodic monitoring and to remove campaign materials from posts. Sameon said the members of the team will do so without prior notice starting April 15.
Candidates who will defy the rule will be fined P300 per poster with wooden or metal framing attached directly to the post and P100 for other election campaign materials.
Sameon clarified that only temporary attachments commemorating activities of local government units and non-commercial institutions such as schools are allowed to put up advertising materials on NORECO II posts after securing authorization.
One of the core values of the cooperative is to promote its workers’ safety, preserve and safeguard the life span of electric posts and to support the advocacy for a clean environment. (FREEMAN)