Monday, October 25, 2010

BARANGAY AND SK ELECTIONS STILL MARRED WITH VOTE-BUYING AND VIOLENCE

When will we ever learn? Money politics still dominates the Barangay(Village) and Sangguniang Kabataan(Youth Council)) elections. Like in the past, Philippine politics is still very traditional. Characterized by patronage, vote-buying, and in some cases, violence, the just recently concluded Barangay ang SK elections are far from being tools for meaningful change. Instead, it has become training grounds for dirty politics and corruption.

It is sad to note that even the youth(15-17 yrs. old) have become victims of money politics through machinations perpetrated by many parents, guardians, or elders who desperately want their candidates to win. This is a bad precedent considering that instead of training the youth to become leaders and good citizens, they are now directly exposed to the ills of traditional politics(trapo).

In the case of the barangays, nothing much has improved. The same technique of directly or indirectly buying votes in violation of the law remains a practice. We never learn because we don't allow ourselves to effect change. We complain against the ills of society but we hesitate to expose and oppose vote-buying. We are always afraid to come out from our comfort zones and most of the time we choose to remain silent. As the saying goes, "we get the government that we deserve."



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mr. Ranches, your entry is short but well said. Your stinging point that we are impervious to change (for the better) is where everything revolves in our political structure. It is surprising to note that despite the political corruption of the young, I haven't heard our leaders condemn such acts. Some teens as young as 15 as you said have learned Political Corruption 101 with flying colors. So, where does our country go?

Seby Acosta
Beddeng Laud
Ciudad Fernandina

Anonymous said...

SK should be abolished.