ON Monday (October 30), we will again exercise our rights to vote and choose the new sets of public servants who will lead our communities for the next three years.
The coming Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections are actually long overdue. The current officials are on hold over capacity since May 2018. With the delays and postponements of the elections, they ended up holding office for five years.
Over 93 million registered voters are expected to troop to various precincts in the country’s 42,027 barangays in 148 cities and 1,486 municipalities.
Breaking down the numbers further, the Comelec said there are 67,839,776 registered voters who are at least 18 years old and may vote in the barangay elections. On the other hand, there are also 23,254,313 registered voters who may vote in the SK elections as they are around 15 to 30 years old.
Comelec Chairman George Garcia is hopeful that a voter turnout of at least 75 percent this year will be attainable. That’s higher than the 71.2 percent (equivalent to 40.89 million registered voters who cast their votes) recorded in 2018.
The target is higher than the 2018 turnout but much lower than the numbers of the May 2022 elections where 83 percent or 55.5 million out of 67.4 million registered voters participated—the highest voter turnout since the Philippines shifted to automated polls in 2010.
On Monday, we are given the chance and the power to once again choose the barangay officials and youth leaders who, hopefully, will bring about change in our villages and communities.
To some, the barangay and SK elections may be something that they can live without. Pwedeng hindi na bumoto. If you also feel this way, please reconsider. There are incumbents seeking re-election and they are the so-called “pandemic officials.”
If these supposed public servants did not do well in serving their constituents during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020 and 2021, now is your time to get back at them. Tandaan po natin, bawa’t boto, mahalaga- para sa mga opisyales na ito at para sa mga botante.
What have they done to ease the pain and suffering of the people in their respective barangays at the height of the health crisis? Have they done enough to make their constituents secure and safe? Or have they added to the misery of the already suffering public? Their future, dear voters, is in your ballot.
I reside in Makati since the 1990s and I can no longer recall the last time I voted in a barangay election. But after my own experience during the lockdown and after witnessing the helplessness of some of the residents in getting the much needed “ayuda” and assistance due to the incompetence of the barangay leaders, I told myself: “Humanda kayo sa eleksyon.”
On October 30, let us make sure that “people power” prevails. Let us go out and vote. And please do not sell your future for a mere P1,000.00. Huwag na magpa-budol.
