Osmeña Orders Removal of Political Ads Along Sinulog Route

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña on Friday ordered the removal of propaganda materials displaying portraits and greetings of election candidates along the route of the Sinulog 2019 grand parade.

Raquel Arce, chief of Cebu City’s Prevention, Restoration, Order, Beautification, Enhancement (PROBE), said in an interview the mayor directed her team to remove such materials, especially those of senatorial candidates in the May elections.

Arce said Osmeña told her that senatoriables will most likely take advantage of the Sinulog Festival as thousands of people are expected to crowd the streets for the grand parade on January 20.

This early, tarpaulins of senatorial candidates can already be seen in some parts of the city and the mayor is anticipating that more and bigger greeting advertisements will be displayed around the metropolis, especially along the parade route.

Osmeña earlier said he will not tolerate politicians taking advantage of the festivities, stressing that the celebration is for Cebu’s patron Señor Sto. Niño and should not be used as an opportunity for candidates to campaign.

The mayor also said he will not allow election aspirants, including relatives and political allies, to go on stage during the Sinulog program at the Cebu City Sports Center, not even his senatoriable brother Sergio Osmeña III.

Arce, however, said removing propaganda materials won’t be an easy task for PROBE as some of these are displayed in private properties.

“We might not be able to remove all of them since some of these ads are displayed on the walls of houses and hung on trees inside private properties,” Arce said in Cebuano.

She said the PROBE team can only take down those that are hung on overpasses and flyovers and pasted on electrical posts. (PNA)