BARANGAY ELECTIONS
THE president of the Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) – Cebu Federation, Celestino Martinez III welcomes the postponement of this year’s barangay elections to May next year as this would give village officials a “second chance” to clean their ranks of narco-politicians.
“Not only I am expecting for our law enforcement to continue their operations against these narco-politicians but also among the barangay officials to clean their ranks,” said Martinez in a phone interview with Cebu Daily News.
“This is an opportunity to do your job. We should always act upon on what our constituents want, especially given the extension.This is just a postponement, the barangay elections maybe moved to May next year so definitely, there is time for our incumbent public officials to stay out of illegal activities especially when they are involved with illegal drugs,” Martinez added.
The chief of the Cebu Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Office (CPADAO), for her part, also welcomed the House move to postpone the elections especially since CPADAO has only just started to “capacitate” barangay officials on their role in stopping illegal drugs.
“All of a sudden, mag bag-o na sad. All the more, wala tay agi nga mahimo, (All of a sudden, there will be changes. All the more, we cannot do our jobs),” said Meca.
Meca added that inspite of the recent arrest of some barangay officials, there are still others believed to be involved in the illegal drug trade.
“It’s time for them to make things serious or else it will be the end of the line for them,” warned Meca.
Gullas
Hitting two birds with one stone, was how Cebu 1st district representative Gerald Anthony “Sam-Sam” Gullas described the House vote postponing this year’s barangay elections.
Gullas was among more than 200 lawmakers who voted to move the village polls slated this October to May 2018.
“We would want to hit two birds with one stone. President Rodrigo Duterte has said that BBL (Bangsamoro Basic Law) is needed to be passed to ensure lasting peace in Mindanao. If the bill would be ready by May next year, we could have a barangay election together with the plebiscite for the BBL thus saving money for our government,” Gullas said in a text message sent to CDN.
The House bill filed by Surigao del Norte representative Robert Ace Barbers proposed that elections be held on May 2020; but a House caucus on Monday decided instead to have the polls in May 2018.
Meanwhile, the Senate version of the bill, penned my Senate majority floor leader Vicente Sotto III, proposes to delay the scheduled polls up to
October 2018. The Senate had yet to deliberate on the bill.
“The President has said time and time again that he would want the elections postponed to ensure that narco money wouldn’t be used for the election,” said Gullas.