I AM one of the over 10 million Filipino voters who did not vote in the last barangay elections held in 2013.
I make it a point to exercise my right to vote in local elections for representative, mayor, vice mayor and other city positions, and in national polls for president, vice president plus senators. But for the barangay elections, I have used several reasons to stay away from the precincts.
Those who run for barangay positions are mostly not known to me. Their campaign is usually held in small groups, in barangay halls and chapels. As to media mileage, there are just too many barangays, 42,036 total throughout the country, for the candidates to see prime time or space in television or newspapers.
Barangay elections are the times when I skip the process, thinking that I still get to keep my right to vote until I don’t show up at the precincts for two successive exercises. The election law states that I forfeit my right to vote if I do not cast my vote in two successive national, local or barangay elections. Since barangay polls are held only after every three years, or longer if government postpones them, I’m safe in keeping my chance to vote in the next exercise.
With the discussion on replacing barangay officials not through elections but by appointment by President Rodrigo Duterte, I am changing my position about this exercise. I have decided I will vote in the next scheduled elections this Oct. 23, if not postponed.
The possibility that legislators would cancel the elections and let Duterte appoint barangay leaders makes me want to cast my ballot. When you’re about to lose something, you’re bound to want it even more.
Duterte had said the elimination of illegal drugs would be fast-tracked if he would appoint the barangay officials instead of have the people go through the process of electing them. Duterte said 40 percent, or around 7,000 to 8,000 officials nationwide, have links to the illegal drugs trade.
Some House of Representatives members support this option, in line with the President’s anti-drug campaign, but others see the move as contrary to the Constitution. Fears were raised that the country would move to a one-man rule if Duterte were to appoint all officials of the country’s smallest political unit.
The barangay elections were originally scheduled for Oct. 31, 2016, three years after it was last held. It was postponed to Oct. 23, 2017 for the government to gain time since the May 2016 elections were just held. Another postponement is possible with the bill pending with the House of Representatives.
When the barangay elections push through this October, I will be one of those to line up to my precinct to cast my vote. It will be a vote for the Constitution and for my chosen barangay leaders.
I will make an effort to know the candidates and I will write their names on the ballot. I will exercise my right to choose my barangay leaders and to uphold the Constitution.