Manila, Feb. 11 -- The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Tuesday announced that it would start issuing notices to remove illegal campaign materials of candidates running for national positions on Wednesday as part of its "Oplan Baklas."

In a forum in Manila, Comelec Chairperson George Garcia said sanctions await winning senatorial candidates and party-list groups in the May 12 polls who would ignore these notices.

"There are about 7,500 issues of show cause orders and non-proclamation of winners in barangay (elections). So if they want to suffer the same fate, it's okay, don't remove illegal campaign materials," he said, referring to the candidates in the 2023 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan who were sanctioned for the same offense...