By Atty. Howie Calleja
With more than 38 congressmen filling a bill to postpone the upcoming Barangay and SK Elections, the House of Representatives’ suffrage and electoral reforms panel approved in a 10-2 vote the postponement of the aforementioned polls to December 4, 2023, from December 5, 2022. Citing our ongoing need to address our COVID-19 Health Crisis, such legislation seeks to reallocate the allotted 8.449 Billion Peso budget for other priority measures.
Don’t get me wrong, I too believe in sound fiscal judgment most especially when the need to judiciously use our national budget is of paramount significance; however, as an “election advocate” for the greater part of my life, I too believe that the merits of pushing on with the Barangay and SK Polls outweighs the clamor to postpone it.
First, deferring this electoral exercise SETS A DEADLY PRECEDENCE. If in the end there is a generally accepted view that it is “easy” to cancel an electoral exercise for the simple reason of budget reallocation masquerading as law, then such legislation instead of promoting the significance of an electoral process may retard the value of suffrage. Only under “extreme” circumstances should our exercise of our right of suffrage be “postponed” lest our legislators make it hasty habit of doing so. I stand with the PPCRV when it says that, “the choice to fund the essential COVID program should not preclude a nation’s right to cast a vote for or against their community leaders in accordance with the mandated schedule”.
Secondly. IT SENDS THE WRONG MESSAGE. If we truly value our democratic ideals as a nation, then definitely a postponement of an electoral process communicates a “meaning” different or contrary to what one desires, either implicitly or explicitly. Holding regular elections is an indispensable feature to the democratic epitomes we hold dear. The postponement will break institutional certainty, which could pose threats of democratic breakdown in the long run. Yes, the case for postponing elections is often made during emergency situations, however the best available precautions for electoral integrity during natural disasters (e.g. COVID-19) include the introduction or expansion of low-tech solutions such as early voting, strengthened risk management, but also transparency and inclusivity in decision making.
If our legislators continue to use our Health Crisis as basis for postponement, it is noteworthy to stipulate that there are several universal lessons learned from COVID-19 elections held around the world (as documented by the NYU Center on International Cooperation) that could help inform reform processes and better prepare countries for the exercise of peaceful democratic processes not only through the remainder of the pandemic, but in future crises: (1) Governments and electoral authorities that were inclusive and transparent in their decision making about the timing and modalities of the electoral process, and that actively tried to build political consensus and communicate with citizens, were able to proceed more effectively; (2) The ability to work across agencies is essential. Cross-agency cooperation on safe polling station procedures and health precautions, as employed in South Korea and elsewhere, provides useful lessons; (3) Special voting arrangements such as early, postal, proxy, and mobile voting have played an important role in allowing voters to cast their votes safely and maintaining voter turnout; and (4) The need for periodic and systematic review of rules that govern the organization of elections, including opportunities to test new voting arrangements and research into public views on them.
Finally, EXTENDING THE TERM OF INCOMPETENCE is too much. We can argue that the 3-year term of an efficient Barangay Official may be too short but conversely an equal term for an incompetent and corrupt one is likewise too much. In fact, in 2020, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said that some 183 barangay officials are now under investigation by the PNP-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group for alleged graft and corruption in the distribution of the social amelioration program. Without the right Barangay and SK officials at the helm of programs for desperately-needed economic necessities, the barangay as a political unit is utterly useless. A governance entity that is in theory cut out for bringing about much-needed change in grassroots communities but in practice serves as an appendage of clan politics where political patronage and corruption thrive does not deserve any term extension nor any chance to be elected again.
