Sustainability of Philippine election campaigning: A study on the impacts of using non-biodegradable election campaign & advertisement materials in Quezon City

• Main Author: Mascareñas, Judenn L.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2023
• Subjects: Political campaigns—Environmental aspects—Philippines—Quezon City; Campaign paraphernalia—Environmental aspects—Philippines—Quezon City; Environmental Studies; Political Science; Politics and Social Change
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/6559; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etd_masteral/article/13577/viewcontent/Mascareñas_2_Redacted.pdf
• Institution: De La Salle University

The campaigning process in the Philippines is considered as one of the core elements in both local and national elections. Sustainability in terms of its practices however, has been seen as an initial issue because of various environmental concerns and disaster risk problems that it causes in recent years. Election campaigning had contributed to the growing problem of waste generation, affecting big urban areas such as Quezon City due of the flood caused by the material, usually clogging up canals and waterways. Advertisement materials such as plastic posters and tarpaulins comprise a huge chunk of non-biodegradable waste and that the expansive use and production of these kinds of materials during election periods, as well as their typical disposal creates significant environmental and litter problems. As provided by the Local Government Code of 1991, all LGUs are given the authority to implement rules on solid waste management as it affects the environment and local communities heavily. With this being said, city ordinances were made in order to control and reduce the usage of these type of materials in however, strict implementation and compliance is yet to be realized within the city. This research will determine the sustainability of election campaigning in the Philippines, looking into the impacts of using non-biodegradable election campaign and advertisement materials in big urban areas such as Quezon City. It will assess the condition of sustainability in the locale by presenting issues on the excessive waste generated during elections, contribution of illegal and premature campaigning to the growth in number of the non-biodegradable plastic materials, the strict regulation in terms of utilization and installation of campaign advertisements thru local enforcement, and the possibilities of promoting sustainable election campaigning in the Philippines. The study will be mixed method in nature and will make use of Key Informant Interviews (KIIs), Citizen Surveys, and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) for its data gathering procedures.