KONTRA DAYA
Press Statement
May 16, 2018

Barangay, SK polls hardly peaceful, mere networking for next year’s polls – Kontra Daya

Contact person: Danilo Arao, convener, Kontra Daya

The Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections last May 14 are anything but peaceful, and everything for politicians running for next year’s elections.

Since the start of the election period last April 14, data from the Philippine National Police (PNP) show that there had been 47 recorded cases of violence that resulted in the killing of 35 people and the wounding of 27.

That “only” seven of these cases (involving 13 deaths) as of this writing had been confirmed as election-related is apparently the reason why the PNP used the term “relatively peaceful” in assessing the recent elections, as the previously held barangay elections in 2013 had 57 election-related violence with 33 people killed and 55 people wounded.

But even granting just for the sake of argument that there are fewer people killed and wounded in this year’s polls, it still cannot be denied that the guns, goons and gold characteristic of electoral exercises are still deeply entrenched in local politics.

Indeed, assessing our country’s election system goes beyond body count. The rampant cases of vote-buying show that politicians are more than willing to capitalize on the voters’ abject poverty to make a mockery of the right to suffrage. Even the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) documented more than 100 incidents of vote-buying and no less than the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) confirmed complaints not just of vote-buying but also cases of flying voters and candidates being harassed to back out of the race. Not surprisingly, even the COMELEC admitted that 20 percent of barangay chair candidates and 26 percent of SK chair candidates ran unopposed, and that this is said to be an indication of the maneuvering of certain politicians to organize their network at the barangay level as preparation for next year’s senatorial and local elections.

At this point, Kontra Daya issues this challenge to the DILG: Identify the government officials accused of vote-buying and file the appropriate case against them. Indeed, what happened at the May 14 polls show that the country’s election system is still defined by money politics and traditional forms of fraud. The current economic crisis still makes poor people vulnerable to manipulation, harassment, intimidation and vote-buying as politicians try their best to build a support base at the village level. This is being done in preparation not just for next year’s elections but also for the push for federalism in case of a referendum.

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