Remove faces on posters, reelectionists told

March 7, 2025 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — To avoid facing complaints for abuse of state resources, incumbent local officials seeking reelection in the coming midterm elections are reminded to remove their pictures on posters.

“Having your names on posters if you’re mayor or governor can’t be avoided, but please no photos so you can’t be accused of politicking,” Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Garcia said at a forum yesterday.

He explained that while incumbent officials may see those posters as mere announcements, their rivals perceive those as illegal campaign materials.

“Remove the photos. It’s better that way, otherwise nobody can stop them from filing cases accusing you of using public funds to promote your candidacy,” Garcia said.

As incumbent local officials, they should avoid doing anything that could be seen as illegal use of state resources, he said.

As the campaign period for the local elections approaches, Garcia said the Comelec is seeing a surge in violations of rules on campaign posters.

Garcia admitted that there are repeat violators, but no formal complaints have been filed yet because the candidates would just remove their illegal posters before the end of the three-day grace period.

He said the poll body would do everything to remove all illegal campaign posters.

“We will continuously be sending them notices,” he said.