THE barangay and kabataan elections were cancelled twice before it was decided that the ones scheduled this coming May will be held as scheduled. One reason for the first postponement of the October, 2016, election was “election fatigue” as the presidential election had just been held that May, 2016, after months of campaigning.
The elections scheduled for October, 2017, were again cancelled. This time, the dominant reason was President Duterte’s concern that so many of the nation’s barangay chairmen had won their positions because of support from local drug lords. In a new election, they were likely to win reelection.
We cannot, however, keep postponing the barangay and youth elections. Many of the Kabataang Barangay officials have long passed the age qualifications for membership in that organization. The idea of cancelling an election is opposed by many as it deprives the people of their greatest single right in a democracy – the right to elect their officials.
There is again a move in the House of Representatives to postpone yet another time the May elections to October when they expect to hold the plebiscite for the new constitution, but the Department of Interior and Local Government is staunchly opposing this. Thus we look forward to the barangay and kabataan elections which will be held as scheduled this coming May.
President Duterte has said he has 143 barangay chairmen and 146 barangay kagawads in his list of narco officials. The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) has almost 300 barangay officials, but the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) said it has some 9,000 barangay officials in its list. The DILG has called for the filing of charges against them and their subsequent suspension.
As the lead agency in the fight against illegal drugs, the PDEA has asked the nation’s barangay officials to submit their barangay watch lists by March 21. These, plus the findings of the DILG, will be verified by the PDEA for inclusion in its final list.
The administration appears confident that after two years of the Duterte administration’s anti-drugs campaign, the voters are fully aware of the situation and will reject officials linked to drugs. There will be court actions led by the PDEA but the nation’s voters must take the lead when they go to the polls in the coming barangay and kabataan elections on May 14.