Lately, I have been receiving text messages asking if the barangay elections will push through as scheduled by the COMELEC, a question that I would not pretend to have the answer.

The reality is that anybody’s guess as to whether or not there will be a barangay election this year is surely just as good as mine.

Earlier, most of the messages I got were asking for information about registration of voters for the barangay and sangguniang kabataan elections, which I could not also answer right away without first inquiring from the COMELEC.

The truth is that I really had lost interest in the barangay election after some lawmakers expressed some apprehension about government’s ability to fund the same, which goaded me into surmising the elections would be postponed to next year.

And then there was this one text message I got inquiring if it is really necessary to hold a barangay election, a query that has driven me into deep thoughts to find an appropriate answer.

But even as I was still trying to collect myself in order to offer a sensible reply, another message came from the same end saying that a barangay election is just a waste of government money.

It also said that it promotes nothing except to encourage people to indulge in so much politicking, one of the main causes why this country has lagged far behind its neighbors in economic and political development.       

I replied to my impromptu text mate that I appreciated his sharing with me views about the barangay election, which are quite different from perception of other people who are known to me to be not hiding their interests to run for barangay positions.

As the text messaging intensified, I conveyed some ideas I earlier got from a friend that a barangay chairman need not be elected but should only be appointed by the mayor like the “teniente del barrio” in the past.

Councilors may not even be needed as the Barangay Chairman would be ordained a full time employee of the LGU and functions like a Deputy Mayor of the barangay where he is appointed; and consequently, millions of pesos intended for salaries would instead be used to fund projects.
       
        The Deputy Mayor would propose the construction or establishment of needed infrastructures within his barangay and submits a budget to fund them to the Mayor, who will incorporate the same in the LGU’s proposed annual budget.

        I did not get a reply until about a few hours later with the other end apologizing for the delay and confessing he consumed his load and could not buy any from where he was.

        Then my text mate added something which had really awakened my curiosity as the message that followed read,  “Tnx frend, dat is a gud idea, il tel my comrades about it.”

Last update : 13-11-2007 22:38

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