Guns and Barangay Elections in Lanao del Sur

IF NATIONAL elections are hot in the 36 municipalities of Lanao del Sur, barangay elections were more dangerous because of the proximity of funds, positions, and power to people. Adding to the scorch are the political rivals and opposing parties who are closer. Most residents here know that.

Not to mention, there might also be clans and relatives who would be too supportive of their candidates and would go out of their way to endorse their running kin. Elections here are usually known as clan affairs, and with the wrong use of one’s maratabat (pride), vote buying and flying voters become smaller problems – compared to overt exchanges of bullets between individuals or clans in broad daylight.

During my freshmen year in Mindanao State University Marawi in 2010, I had witnessed first-hand how hostilities work during what others call a “mere barangay election.”

While we were still asleep during the wee hours of the dawn one September, our boarding house was suddenly shaken with the loud sound of large bullets that rapped our terrace’s walls. Luckily, no bullet landed on the jalousie where one of my roommates was sleeping near.

It was a warning attack from our landlord’s political rival in the barangay elections in his hometown. The attacker travelled all the way to MSU Marawi to intimidate our land owner, probably to ‘convince’ him to withdraw his candidacy.

Our landlord and his entire family was not in the campus that time, having already gotten whiff of possible attacks that might come. Thinking back, I am glad that the landlord wasn’t there at that time, or else, there might be an exchange of bullets that could erupt. Until now, the chipped marks from the bullets are still there.

In the 2013 elections as well, there were reports of students living in boarding houses who were bribed to register as voters (some, with fake names) to vote for their candidates. Some others were threatened to do so. These students were safely vacated to university dorms by the MSU administration.

This year, however, there will be no Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections in Marawi City because there are no places where voting can be held, due to the destruction from the siege. Current barangay officials of the city will continue to hold their positions.

Presently, security measures are heightened at MSU and the entire Marawi because of the recent war.

These measures could also cover for the possible conflicts that may erupt relating to barangay elections from other places. However, Marawi City is still surrounded by small municipalities.

Nonetheless, there are still more than 42,000 barangays in the different municipalities of Lanao del Sur.

Where position and power can be given to more people and where thousands will vie for these privileges, many small skirmishes and underhand tactics can happen. Rido (clan wars) and other conflicts might still arise because of the elections.

Election gun bans won’t cut the possible hazards either, as there are many unregistered guns in Lanao del Sur.

However, I commend the campaigns by the Armed Forces of the Philippines to persuade civilians to surrender their loose fire arms. But no matter how peaceful the means are, there might still be a need for stronger means to confiscate these weapons. I do hope, however, that it would not become invasive to the people’s right to privacy.