Village, SK polls
THE six-day filing of certificates of candidacy (COCs) for the forthcoming non-partisan Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) started August 28.
Many quarters, like the ordinary citizens, are not concerned here with the identity of the barangay and SK candidates since most of the bets are relatives, friends and neighbors.
In fact, in the barangay, particularly in the countryside, “hindi mahihirapan ang mga botante na mamili kung sinu-sino ang kanilang iboboto.”
Everybody knows the deserving candidates since the residents have been living in the village for years,” according to a public school teacher whose only son is running for kagawad.
The main worry of the electorate is the presence of vote-buyers, mostly moneyed and influential community leaders, who are out to vanquish their political rivals at all costs.
“Gamit ang kanilang pera, na hindi alam kung saan nanggaling, deni-demonyo ng mga kandidatong ito ang mga botante para lang manalo,” another school teacher lamented.
Well-meaning Filipinos are hopeful that the Commission on Elections (Comelec), headed by lawyer George Erwin Garcia, succeeds in holding honest, free and orderly polls.
“Sana makahuli sila (poll officials) ng mga kandidatong namimili ng boto at botanteng nagbebenta ng kani-kanilang mga boto,” an irate candidate for barangay chairman added.
We would rather that all violators of the nation’s election laws, rules and regulations, particularly vote-buyers and vote-sellers, be identified, arrested and charged in court.
