WHAT happens when the village umpire starts cheering for one team?
The Supreme Court has spoken — and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has followed suit. Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) officials are now free to campaign for whoever they want in the 2025 elections. The gates are open. Let the partisan games begin.
But here’s the problem: these aren’t just ordinary citizens. Barangay captains, kagawads, and SK chairs are not your typical campaign volunteers. They are neighborhood gatekeepers, community mediators, and frontline service providers. In many communities, they are the government.
So what happens when these supposedly neutral referees pick a side?
Chaos. Or at the very least, confusion and quiet coercion.
The illusion that barangay leaders were ever fully apolitical may be naïve, but the tradition of neutrality served a purpose. It gave residents some assurance that public service wouldn’t come with a political price tag. That even if you didn’t share your official’s politics, you could still get a barangay certificate, a medical referral, or some emergency aid without fear of discrimination.
Now, that assurance is gone.
Yes, Comelec has warned officials not to misuse government funds, personnel, or facilities. But anyone who thinks violations will be easy to catch — or that favors won’t be exchanged behind closed doors — has clearly never lived in a barangay where everything runs on connections and goodwill. A barangay captain openly endorsing a candidate sends a loud message, even when spoken softly: “This is who we support. You know what to do.”
Let’s not kid ourselves. This ruling didn’t just clarify a law — it greenlit the politicization of the most intimate level of governance. The people who hold the smallest levers of power in our daily lives are now licensed to use that influence in the most powerful of ways: by shaping how communities vote.
The real danger isn’t that barangay officials will break the rules. It’s that they’ll use their influence without breaking any, and in doing so, tilt the playing field while pretending it’s level.
Neutrality may have been flawed, but its loss marks the start of a more dangerously partisan grassroots politics. And we, the voters, may be the ones left to clean up after it.
