The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Tuesday kicked off the crackdown on illegal campaign materials for the upcoming midterm elections.

Comelec Chairperson George Garcia said the poll body will go after candidates who continuously violate election laws.

"Ito po ay napakalaking simbolismo at ito'y para sa buong bansa upang ipakita sa mga kandidato, sa mga political party sa mga susunod na araw, pagkanagkabit sila sa mga lugar na hindi sila dapat nagkakabit, tatanggalin at tatanggalin namin (This is a huge symbolism and it's for the whole country to show to the candidates, to the political parties in the next few days, when they post campaign materials in places they are not allowed to, we will remove them)," Garcia said.

The poll body chief, however, admitted they could not just remove campaign materials posted on private properties because they are protected by the rights of property owners.

Garcia also explained they will not yet remove campaign materials of those aspirants gunning for local positions, as the campaign period for them has yet to start.

"Hindi pa namin to pwedeng tanggalin sa kasalukuyan sapagkat hindi pa naman po simula ng campaign period sa local position (We can't remove their campaign materials yet because it's not yet the start of the campaign period for local positions)," he noted.

The 45-day campaign period for local candidates — members of the House of Representatives, as well as regional, provincial, city, and municipal officials — will start on 28 March.

Meanwhile, the campaign period for national positions — senators and party-list — started on 11 February and will run until 10 May.

Garcia said the Comelec will keep all confiscated campaign materials and will use them as evidence in filing appropriate charges.

"Hindi po ito pwedeng sunugin, hindi rin pwedeng basta i-dispose o itapon sapagkat kinakailangan properly i-account po yung lahat ng makukumpiska na yan for purpose of later on kung saka-sakali magpa-file ng kaso laban doon sa kandidato (We cannot burn them nor simply dispose or throw them away because we have to properly account them for the purpose of when a case against a candidate is needed to be filed)," he added.

Garcia earlier reminded candidates that posters should not exceed two feet by three feet in size. Meanwhile, streamers are allowed only for public meetings or rallies and should not exceed three by eight feet in size.

They may be displayed for a maximum of five days before the event and must be taken down within 24 hours after.

"Kapag hindi nils pinatanggal nang three days, fi-filean namin sila ng election offense at karampatang disqualification (If they don't remove them within three days, we will file an election offense and possible disqualification)," he added.

Designated common poster areas, according to Comelec, are mostly public places, such as plazas, markets, barangay centers, or areas where crowds gather.

"Tatanggalin namin yung mga wala sa common poster areas at kapag wala sa size o kaya naman mali yung pinaglalagyan. Pagkanabigyan namin sila ng notice at hindi pa rin tinatanggal, kakasuhan namin sila ng election offense, one to six years imprisonment yan (We will remove those that are not in common poster areas and if they are not in the right size or are placed incorrectly. After we give candidates a notice and they still did not remove their posters, we will charge them with an election offense, that is one to six years of imprisonment)," Garcia said.

Meanwhile, Garcia also reminded the candidates that the allowed number of minutes for political advertisements on television is 120 minutes per station and 180 minutes per radio station.

He added that candidates belonging to a political party are only allowed to spend P3 per voter, while independent candidates are allowed to spend P5 per voter.