MMDA, NCRPO warned vs removing Ninoy-Cory posters in Manila

The Manila City Hall has threatened to file charges against any agency or group that will remove the posters bearing the faces of slain Senator Benigno “Ninoy" Aquino Jr. and his wife, the late President Corazon “Cory" Aquino. Lawyer Rafaelito Garayblas of the Office of the Secretary to the Mayor said they got word from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) that the posters are not considered as election campaign materials. The Aquino couple’s only son, Sen. Benigno “Noynoy" Aquino III, is running for president in the May 10 elections. According to Garayblas, city legal officer Renato dela Cruz had sought Comelec’s its opinion on removal of Ninoy-Cory posters by some Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and National Capital Region Office (NCRPO) personnel from the center islands along Roxas Boulevard and Padre Burgos Street and the park where the statues of the Aquino couple stood at the corner of P. Burgos and Bonifacio Drive in Ermita. The MMDA and the NCRPO justified their action by saying that the posters are considered campaign materials for the younger Aquino that are not placed on designated campaign poster areas. Garayblas said Comelec Commissioner Ferdinand Rafanan, head of the poll body’s law department, said they did not authorize the MMDA and NCRPO to remove the banners. “Further, banners bearing only the pictures and names of Ninoy and Cory Aquino are not considered election campaign materials as provided under Comelec Resolution 875," Garayblas quoted Rafanan’s letter as saying. Garayblas said the city government has maintained that the yellow banners only bore pictures and names of Ninoy and Cory, and are the city’s little way of paying tribute to the couple as modern day heroes. “Indeed, they are not campaign materials for any particular candidate and hence, did not violate any Comelec and or election-related rules and regulations," he said. He also directed Dela Cruz to file the appropriate charges against any MMDA or NCRPO personnel who will engage in tearing down the Cory and Ninoy banners. —KBK, GMANews.TV