Candidates who nail posters on trees to face charges

An environmental group on Monday threatened to file charges against candidates who damage the environment in the course of their campaign, saying the environment is the primary victim of “wasteful and indiscriminate use" of campaign materials. Earth Day Network Philippines (EDNP) particularly zeroed in on the candidates’ practice of nailing their posters and other election paraphernalia on trees. “Presidential Decree 953 of 1976 prohibits the destruction, damaging and injuring of trees. Yet so many politicians, even those who claim to have environment high on their agenda, nail their posters and other election paraphernalia on trees," the group said in a statement. EDNP explained that the “wound" caused by the nailing of campaign materials to trees could be the entry point for infection that could harm or eventually kill these trees. “The Earth Day Network together with Attorney Tony Oposa of the Law of Nature Foundation and other green lawyers all over the country are set to file cases against violators who do not heed this warning," the group said. The official start of the campaign period for those seeking national office will start on Tuesday and will last until May 8, 2010. EDNP noted that every election year, the country is deluged with posters, banners and pamphlets that leave piles of garbage in its wake. “Such wasteful and indiscriminate use of materials shows a candidate’s egoistic self-propagation at the expense of everyone else including the environment," said Voltaire Alferez, EDNP executive director. The group challenged the candidates to set good examples if they are serious and sincere in becoming leaders. “How can they effectively lead when they have no moral ascendancy" asked Bebet Gozun, EDNP chairperson who is also a former secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). The group also called on the voting public not to choose a candidate based on what he promises to do but by how he is already doing it during the campaign. “A wasteful candidate who disregards the environment around him is not worthy of our trust," said Alferez. - KBK, GMANews.TV