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A welcome postponement
“DO YOU know the reason why I also agreed with some congressmen to postpone the barangay elections? Do you know why? Because I am afraid that the drug money will seep into the electoral process.” That’s President Duterte explaining his position on the postponement of the barangay election scheduled next month.
Barangays are created to administer the basic services of local government units to its people. But the postponement of the barangay election can be a good thing. Aside from averting the flow of drug money to the villages, barangay elections are actually a mockery of our laws. Barangay officials and councils are supposed to be nonpartisan and apolitical. Sadly, it has become a norm that most barangay leaders have become minions of ruling politicians – mayors, congressmen and governors.
Barangays, the most basic administrative units in the country, have mostly failed to achieve their potential because they have been extremely politicized. Election after election, candidates and supporters brazenly display this, thru, among others, vote buying. Indeed, it is difficult to shield barangays from politics because they are financially dependent on local government units. They get their logistics and budget from their city or municipal governments. Like local government units, the continuing dependence of barangays on their internal revenue allotments (IRA) is keeping them tied to the power that disburses the IRA.
Actually, the Local Government Code has given the barangays the power to become true economic units by raising local taxes. However, most of them fail to exercise this power. The reason is that either they have become too independent on the IRA or the barangay officials are unaware that the Code has wielded them with such power.
As long as barangays continue to depend on the IRA for their operation, they would remain as subjects to the dictates of higher local government units – or even drug traffickers who can bribe with lots of money. This counteracts the autonomy envisioned for them under the Local Government Code.
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