OPINION: Why barangay and SK politics should be reformed

    By Atty. Josephus Jimenez
    WHAT MATTERS MOST
             The Freeman

We endorse the decision of the president and Congress to postpone the Barangay and SK elections again, for the nth time, because I believe the barangays, or at the very least most of them, have deteriorated into the feudal turfs of municipal mayors and other local politicians. With all due respect to the minority of honest and innocent ones, most barangay captains have deteriorated into the alter egos of the mayors and other local kingpins. Worse, other barangay officials have become virtual cronies, robots, and blind followers of the mayors. The Ozamiz Parojinog example and the Albuera Espinosa model are being duplicated all over the Philippines. And so, if elections are held as scheduled, narco politics shall determine the results. Democracy shall be negated.

Our arguments are simple. No drug trade can ever proliferate in any town without the tacit or admitted approval of the mayor and the chief of police. No drug trade can ever last in any province or congressional district without the knowledge, even support of the provincial governor and congressman. If a mayor congressman, governor or congressman does not support the drug trade in his political jurisdiction and the trade continues unabated, then he must either be too naïve, stupid, or afraid of being liquidated by the drug syndicate. Then the barangays are being pressured to either actively support the drug trade or look the other way. Government intelligence including Malacañan information confirms drug syndicates currently control thousands of barangays and local government units all over the country.

If elections are held without first dismantling the drug trade web, then all or almost all of the winners will most probably be the drug-controlled barangay candidates. Then the government will never be able to solve the drug malady because the next set of barangay officials shall be under the control of drug lords. Why won’t the national leaders put a stop to such a vicious cycle? Next to the family, barangays are supposed to be the basic foundation of the whole nation. Democracy should be practiced in the barangays in its purest form. The people should be expressing their will without interference and pressure from anyone. But today, such democracy becomes a mockery because elections are controlled by narco money.

These arguments may also be true even in many municipalities and some provinces and cities. Congress should also look into this bigger problem. As to the SK, as a former youth and student leader, I am very frustrated that the SK has become a training ground for future trapos. Many young SK politicians are being trained to falsify receipts, manipulate liquidation reports, and defeat the true will of the people through rampant vote buying, rigging of elections, and all the shenanigans in dirty local politics. Mayors put up their own children to dominate the SK polls. The youth have allowed themselves to be used, abused, and misused by the corrupt elders and traditional politicians. Indeed, barangays and local politics, as well as the SK should be reformed. (The Freeman)

(Photo Credit:  Atty. Jimenez Facebook Profile Picture)