Thank God the barangay elections are over!
Having missed the elections for the last ten years, I was gobsmacked at the circus that it became. Hordes of posters and flyers made me think that it was the presidential elections.
For the last two weeks, I woke up to the ear-blasting ‘louie beltran atong botohan, louie beltran3x…sang to the mighty tune of Labamba. What the?!! I will not vote for a clown who cannot respect my basic human right to have a peaceful sleep! If only I could vote…
It’s also federal election time in Australia so I can’t help but notice the stark contrasts. You don’t see your street turned to garbage from posters stuck on street lights, building walls and anywhere one could stick something onto. You get these in the mail together with the candidate’s plan of government and track record, or hear it on the radio or tv.
On election day, you simply vote. The people and the political parties trust the system and the Australian Electoral Commission. Ballot boxes are not made of steel with padlocks. They are made of cardboard boxes. Ballot box grabbing/rigging and flying voters are unheard of. Your fingers don’t even get inked. You can mail your vote via the postal system and pre-cast your vote if you are not able to vote during election day. To take it a step further, there are plans to allow voting electronically. Ten years ago, Pinoy barangay elections were a quiet affair. And now, party poll watchers at barangay elections? That’s not a step forward. It’s mistrust in a system, candidate or the electorate now permeating the lowest level of government.
What’s next? Student council or purok elections?
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