MMDA starts cleanup after polls; eco group pushes 'healing'

After the votes have been cast and counted, the election fever has begun to subside and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has started the weeklong cleanup to rid the Metropolis of all sorts of campaign materials. A report on dzBB radio Wednesday said the MMDA started cleaning major streets and thoroughfares of posters and streamers as early as Tuesday. The MMDA has given itself up to May 17 to finish its cleanup. But as of Wednesday morning, several areas in Manila including busy Taft Avenue was still littered with campaign posters. On the other hand, environmentalists urged all presidential bets to cross party lines and clean the streets of campaign materials. EcoWaste Coalition said candidates, party list groups and their respective supporters must be mindful of the environmental consequences of their campaigning. “By showing leadership in the cleanup and recycling drive, the incoming President as well as the other candidates will be sending strong signal to the entire nation that now is the time for ecological recovery and action," said Manny Calonzo of EcoWaste. The group challenged candidates that if they are well-meaning public servants, they must be careful that their efforts to win in the polls would not create impact on the environment. “If they are really pro-Filipino, we expect them to exercise utmost care and responsibility towards the environment and not to defile Mother Earth on which our life and future as a nation depends," EcoWaste president Roy Alvarez said. During the campaign period, EcoWaste had urged candidates to stick to “5 Rs" (restrain, reduce, respect, retrieve, remove) to lessen the environmental impacts of their political activities. The five Rs included restrain from overspending; reducing campaign trash; respecting trees by not nailing or tying campaign materials on them; retrieving campaign materials; and removing election campaign materials immediately after Election Day on May 10. “Win or lose, bring your tarps down and scrape your posters off the walls," the group said. Also, the group pointed out the cleanup will also hasten the healing of wounds inflicted during the campaign period. “The quick removal of all campaign propaganda will hopefully hasten the mending of political discord that escalated during the heated campaign, so we can move on as one people to actualize the change that we seek for the common good," he said. EcoWaste and the Miss Earth Foundation, recently launched a 3Rs (repurpose, reuse, recycle) drive to keep used campaign materials out of dumpsites and landfills. While 3Rs will not completely solve the waste and toxic pollution associated with the electoral campaign, both groups believe that repurposing, reusing and recycling campaign discards will yield a number of benefits. The groups said 3Rs will contribute to: * reduced garbage and cleaner and healthier communities * reduced expenses for waste collection and disposal * reduced demand for virgin materials * reduced emission of greenhouse gases and other pollutants * reduced deforestation with the recycling of paper 3Rs will further lead to: * expanded opportunity for resource conservation * expanded consciousness among citizens to take environmental action * expanded individual and group creativity and resourcefulness * expanded family and community cooperation and self-reliance * expanded job creation, especially if carried out on a bigger scale — LBG, GMANews.TV