DILG, Comelec to conduct b’gay, SK polls info drive

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) will assist the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in conducting an information campaign on the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections in May.

“The DILG is committed to be an instrument for a wellinformed public...making certain that voters will head to their precincts armed with the proper know-how,” DILG chief Eduardo Año said on Wednesday.

“Elections can be a venue for political maneuvering and we at the DILG will do our best to address such concerns. But we cannot do it alone, we need the support of the Filipino voters,” Año said.

He said they would encourage the people to vote for a new set of barangay officials who are committed to the Duterte administration’s anticorruption, anti-drug and anti-criminality campaign.

DILG spokesperson Assistant Secretary Jonathan Malaya said voters should choose barangay officials who have cleared their communities of illegal drugs or are actively supporting the government’s anti-drug campaign.

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency said 58.1 percent or 24,423 of 42,036 barangays across the country are still affected by illegal drugs in varying degrees.

“We need barangay officials who will help the government clear these areas of drug pushers,” Malaya said.