“THERE is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about.” – Margaret J. Wheatley.
I ponder on these words and ask myself if the community I live in—Tagbilaranon community, and the Boholano community as a whole—have really come to a decisive point in their electorate journey to demand a clean, fair, and honest elections. Are we already there?
It takes a community to reshape the thinking of the same community. That’s how I view it. It’s simple, straightforward, and yet profound because we wouldn’t arrive at this present state—on vote-buying and vote-selling—from a relatively cleaner slate right after the People Power Revolution in 1986 if we hadn’t allowed our thinking process to be reshaped by political actors.
Today, we need to break—crack, if necessary—that “reshaped” mindset perpetrated and propagated by political actors and their handlers over the years and return to normal. Thus, we also need to go back to the basics. What is normal during election day? What is normal during pre-election day? And then come face to face with the hardest question: Will it be easy? The present state—vote-buying and vote-selling—took decades to embed in the voter’s mindset.
Hope springs eternal.
It takes a community to begin the arduous task. Like I said it takes a community to reform the thinking of the same community. For instance, Barangay Manga in Tagbilaran City held a Forum at the function hall of the Most Holy Trinity Parish on February 23, 2025, with the theme: “Honest and Fair Election: A Step towards Good Governance.”
When asked about the purpose of the discourse, Fr. Jingboy Saco, Manga parish priest said, “We wanted to appeal to the congressional candidates to exclude Barangay Manga from their budget of “Inangayan” (Vote-buying/Vote-selling) in the upcoming elections.” Straight, simple, succinct but loud, that’s how I describe it. Fr. Saco said, “We began the campaign in 2023 during the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections and we were able to accomplish our goal.” “After a consultation with church leaders, barangay officials, and representatives of the multi-sectoral groups, we were united in our decision to continue with what we have started hoping that someday we can replicate this advocacy in other places,” he added.
Asked about how he sees the electorate so far, Fr. Jingboy said, “Majority of the barangay constituents supported the move, but they also suggested to invite the candidates’ financial supporters and appeal to them to exclude Manga, thus, avoiding the temptation to be bought.” Saco said it takes time to educate the electorate hence they decided to begin somewhere, one small step at a time.
Well, I likened that to the peace education in region twelve. I lived in General Santos City in Region 12 for about thirty years, and peace education is a continuing process. It does not end because the next generation should be able to appreciate, even reap, the benefits of such an advocacy undertaken by previous generations.
“Vote-buying and vote-selling can be prevented if the electorate speaks out and convey the message to the candidates that our votes are not for sale,” says Fr. Saco. “There is hope if well-meaning citizens are genuinely willing to work it out and sacrifice,” Msgr. Boy Nunag stressed.
The following joined the activity: 1st district congressional candidates – Ms. Binggay de la Serna and Atty Jordan M. Pizarras – came in person; Atty. Abel Damalerio represented congressman Edgar Chatto; mayoralty candidate councilor Atoy Torralba, vice mayoralty candidates barangay chairperson Geneson Balbin, and former vice mayor Toto Veloso – came in person; while congressional candidate Baba Yap, mayoralty candidate mayor Jane Yap, and vice mayoralty candidate Atty. Adam Jala were represented by councilor Ondoy Borja and city admin Alvin Acuzar of the city government of Tagbilaran.
Retired police general Edgar Ingking gave a talk on Political Patronage and Governance, followed by a video presentation on Ending Vote-Buying by Bishop Abet Uy. This was followed by a presentation on Ending Vote-Selling: Appeal and Request to our Candidates by Fr. Saco. Dr. Noelyn Dano was the moderator.
For good measure, when asked if there is hope for vote-buying and vote-selling to end in our community, a physician explained, “Yes, of course, and it starts with us, our family, our relatives, and our friends. We can be a ripple of change if we just get out of our comfort zone and educate twenty people on why it is morally wrong to sell one’s vote and the cycle that follows vote-buying. Let the church (of all denominations) also do its job to educate the flock to follow biblical principles in choosing leaders so that righteousness will reign in our land.”
Need I say more?
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The writer hosts Woman Talk with Belinda Sales every Saturday, 10 a.m. at 91.1 Balita FM Tagbilaran City. Momentarily, Woman Talk is taking a short break. Email at belindabelsales@gmail.com. X @ShilohRuthie./PN
