President Rodrigo Duterte opted to skip the synchronized Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections on Monday, May 14.
For whatever reason, it was not revealed by the camp of the country’s top chief executive.
The synchronized village and youth polls were the first to be held under the Duterte administration.
Duterte’s polling center, Daniel R. Aguinaldo National High School in Davao City, has actually readied a separate precinct. They also readied the historical armchair he used during the 2016 elections when he was still a mayor.
The President’s move not to vote was expected by many, although, as a strong advocate of the democratic process, it is somehow undermining the electoral procedure.
The President had insisted that village officials and aspirants who have links to illegal drugs may win the village polls, which is the very reason for its postponement.
The barangay polls were canceled twice. However, it pushed through this year as the Congress failed to act on the measure seeking for its postponement.
Duterte claimed that four out of 10 village officials in the country are involved in illegal drugs.
Just two weeks before the elections, a list containing the names of incumbent barangay leaders who were into drugs were released by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.
The poll body is expecting a high voters’ turnout in this election. We hope, too.
After all, this election is very vital to the 2019 elections.