Disenfranchising the voters

The Commission on Elections has begun preparations for the barangay elections on Oct. 23. Don’t the Comelec commissioners know how to read? There will be no such elections this year or in the immediate future.

President Duterte said so and his word is Congress’s command. That is why as soon as he heard of the President’s wish, the honorable gentleman from Surigao del Norte, Robert Ace Barbers, did not waste time in filing a bill granting it. And, as sure as the sun rising in the east, it will be granted. The Comelec is wasting its time.

This is going to be the second time the barangay polls will be reset since Duterte assumed office. Last year, the elections were also postponed and for the same reason: the President does not want drug money to influence the election results. Apparently, the administration needs more than sixth months to reverse the situation.

In fact, they need/want not just additional time. They also want the power to name the barangay officials and that, too, shall most likely be granted by a fawning Congress raring to please the President that many of them did not help elect but to whose side they rushed with indecent haste as soon as they knew that he was going to win.

Sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them. So says the Constitution in the Declaration of Principles and State Policies. The right to directly choose our leaders is one of the hallmarks of our democratic state.

Our elections are admittedly not perfect. But its flaws, mostly man-made or influenced, notwithstanding, the process has worked out just fine, especially as a platform through which the people express their trust or dissatisfaction in their leaders.

Even the authoritarian Ferdinand Marcos recognized the advantage in allowing the people to express themselves through the ballot. He permitted the holding of elections at the height of his power. That he rigged it or did not honor its results is beside the point, the point being that he provided a way for the people to express their sentiments, never mind that he ignored them.

The drug problem is real and is serious but you can’t wave it bogey-like to scare the citizens into surrendering their right to vote. The claim that they will likely vote for drug lords and their protectors is an insult to the electorate more than 16 million of whom chose Duterte over other presidential aspirants.

Besides, only 40 percent of the country’s barangay officials are said to have drug connections. Surely, the administration knows them unless they plucked the number from thin air. Why doesn’t the government run after them instead of using them as an excuse to disenfranchise 100 percent of the voters?

But it’s only the barangay, one will probably argue. But there precisely lies the danger. Who’s next? What will prevent the President from asking for and being granted the authority to appoint municipal, city and provincial officials, too?