The Manila Times

Rethink tinkering with the barangay elections

CROW’S NEST MAJ. GEN. EDGARD A. AREVALO

FROM my Social Studies subject, I learned that the word “barangay” was coined from the Malay word “balangay,” which means a sailboat. A barangay, or village, as the smallest political subdivision in the Philippines, dates to pre-colonial times. According to historians, even before the Spaniards “discovered” the Philippines in the 16th century, Filipinos lived in communities that were organized into independent villages called barangay. Each was composed of 120 to 400 individuals and headed by a ruler called datu or chieftain who wields immense powers and carries enormous responsibility. One such notoriously famous is Datu Kalantiaw. He makes the rules, implements them and metes punishment based on his wise judgments.

When the Spaniards colonized the Philippines, they divested the chieftains of such distinct governing powers. The conquistadores installed cabezas de barangay as political lieutenants at the grassroots. From then on, and until we finally attained national independence, the number of these political subdivisions steadily grew.

As at March 2021, there were 378,414 punong barangay (village chairmen) with eight barangay kagawad (village councilmen, including Sanggunian Kabataan [Youth Council] chairman) that govern the 42,046 barangay throughout the Philippines. Contemporary barangay officials have, through the years, seen an increase in the constituency. For instance, Barangay 176 in Caloocan City is the biggest with 247,000 persons followed by Barangay Commonwealth in Quezon City with 198,285 residents. These officials are the backbone of local governance, especially in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDAs). They can advance (or retard) various health, education and population control programs, among other development initiatives of the government. They are critical partners of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in defeating and insulating their vulnerable communities from communist, Islamic and fundamentalist terrorist groups. Their cooperation and support are essential to crime prevention and resolution by the Philippine National Police.

We have a unique and truly Filipino barangay justice system. As a matter of fact, our Katarungang Pambarangay Law is the only Philippine law that is not copied or derived from pieces of legislation passed in other countries. We have a prescribed manner of resolving disputes at the barangay level. We have that venerable capitan del barrio (barrio captain or village chairman) as the go-to leader who possesses such a level of wisdom and experience to command so much respect and trust from his constituents. Everything, from petty quarrels of neighbors to stray animals, unsettled debts, to marital problems must first be brought before his sala. And, except in specific instances, a certification to file action from the barangay is required before a case can be filed before regular courts. Such is the amazing barangay justice system. That is the lofty position barangay leaders occupy in Philippine society such that congressional bills were passed to govern the qualifications, election and fixed term for barangay leaders.

Under Article VI of the Omnibus Election Code, it was decreed that non-partisan barangay elections will be held throughout the Philippines on the second Monday of May 1988 and every same day every six years thereafter. Since then, several laws have been passed amending the provisions pertaining to barangay elections. Republic Act 9164 mandates synchronized barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKEs) on July 15, 2002 and subsequent ones on the last Monday of October and every three years thereafter. But the regular conduct of the BSKEs has been interrupted by several postponements. The elections scheduled in October 2016 were postponed to 2017, then rescheduled and finally held on May 14, 2018. And that was the last synchronized BSKEs.

On Dec. 3, 2019, then-president Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act 11462 rescheduling the May 2020 BSKEs to Dec. 5, 2022 and holding subsequent ones on the first Monday of December 2025 and every three years thereafter. Now that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is preparing for the synchronized BSKEs, honorable legislators from both chambers of Congress are pushing for another postponement for various flimsy reasons.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. should exert his convincing if not coercive power to the Senate and House leaderships to stop these moves to perpetuate the barangay officials in their posts for three to five more years. He can make up for the overarching argument to save the fund allocated for the BSKEs by rescheduling the elections. He may convince the leadership of both Houses that postponing the BSKEs is a manifest disregard of the people’s right to elect a new set of leaders where the incumbents were manifestly corrupt, inefficient and grossly partisan.

The President can persuade lawmakers to proceed with the December 2022 BSKEs because holding them in May 2025 will make the midterm elections costlier. The President can convince the House leaders to make Rep. Cheeno Miguel Almario realize that postponing the elections to May 2023 will not “heal the wounds” of politics. Rep. Ralph Tulfo may be informed that the Comelec has “ample time” to hold them and is actually preparing for the BSKEs. Rep Tulfo must understand that there is no need for an “affirmation and reward” for the “faithfulness and service” of barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan leaders to their constituents for doing their job. Rep. Rachel del Mar must be told that there is no point arguing that holding the BSKEs will add to the “present division” of the electorate because elections are inherently divisive no matter when you hold them.

The BSKEs are long overdue. They must be held as scheduled and the honorable legislators should desist from tinkering with the law. Postponing the polls only serves to advance the interest of unscrupulous and corrupt politicians. The benefits of having a new set of barangay leaders with fresh mandates far outweighs the cost of postponing the BSKEs.

There are other pressing matters that members of the 19th Congress must focus their attentions on. They can channel their energies to reviewing the Oil Deregulation Law and the Electric Power Industry Reform Act. They can cure the infirmed provisions of the repealed Economic Zoned bill because that will boost the economy and generate much needed government funds. They should pass tougher measures that exact accountability and mete stiffer penalties for officials’ nonfeasance, misfeasance and malfeasance involving government funds. They should enact laws to end the dismal state of telecommunication, internet services, traffic congestions and flooding and proposals to improve government response to health emergencies.

Well, our honorable legislators will never run out of nobler things to do than fixing the unbroken and renaming airports.

Opinion

en-ph

2022-08-14T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-08-14T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://manilatimes.pressreader.com/article/281685438626417

The Manila Times