QC govt removes 20,000 illegal billboards

The Quezon City government, through the Department of Public Order and Safety (DPOS), removed approximately 20,000 illegal billboards and advertisements.

These materials, including streamers, posters, and signboards, were found in non-common poster areas on electric posts, wires, streetlights, and trees, violating city ordinances.

DPOS head retired Police Brig. Gen. Elmo San Diego clarified that the removal of election campaign materials is not political propaganda but an initiative to maintain the city's cleanliness and orderliness.

The clearing operations, which involved around 600 DPOS and Quezon City Police District (QCPD) personnel, focused on major thoroughfares and started in Brgy. Pansol.

The initiative targets campaign posters not placed in Commission on Elections (Comelec) designated areas and focuses on materials posted on public places, differentiating it from Comelec's 'Oplan Baklas'.

The operations will continue in the city's six districts until Wednesday, March 9.

Removed materials will be kept at a depot for one week, with campaign materials eligible for retrieval and relocation to common poster areas.