Belittle not the barangay vote

Manny Valdehuesa .

EVERY issue, problem, or activity in our society happens first in a barangay or group of barangays, becoming generalized as it spreads outwards and upwards.

Whatever concerns us, therefore, whether it’s a problem to solve or an opportunity to develop, no need to go anywhere else. It can be started right in the barangay, in its neighborhood.

Take the forthcoming barangay elections. Election anomalies take place in the barangay, spreading vertically and horizontally as the perpetrators spread the net of corruption—vote-buying in the barangay’s obscure corners, enlisting crooked operatives who either buy votes or pay people not to vote (for a rival).

Whoever plays along with these corruptors poisons the atmosphere of elections in the community. They cause corrupt candidates to be elected, elevating them to public office. And they marginalize decent, worthy candidates—who then get discouraged or cynical about elections, infecting the barangay neighborhoods with a negative attitude.

***

The power of a vote and its transformative effect is something voters should ponder seriously, election time or not. Through the barangay’s votes, a private citizen becomes a public official.

The citizen may be a lowly neighbor, but he acquires a special status plus extraordinary powers as a public official.

When the mantle of leadership is conferred upon such an individual, he influences the direction the community takes —for better or worse, for good or ill. For good if his leadership raises the morale of the community. producing benefits and public satisfaction. Bad if he causes crime, graft and corruption, and other ugly things, like impunity, to arise.

The good, the bad, and the ugly effects of leadership can be traced to votes that elevated him to public office.

***

Good, wise barangay votes enable good leaders to emerge and rise to places of honor. Bad, corrupt votes pollute the community and ultimately poisons society and government. Every one of these votes—the good and the bad—is cast in the barangay’s precincts.

If votes that prevail are cast by irresponsible voters, one can only expect irresponsible service in return. It behooves voters therefore to exercise maximum concern and sense of responsibility when they vote.

One hopes that people will vote with concern for the Common Good in mind. Voting should be viewed not as a purely personal act but as a fulfillment of a public duty. This duty includes exalting good and honorable candidates, with public service as their reward.

This duty not only requires a citizen to be thoughtful in matters concerning the Common Good, it calls on him to educate misguided neighbors and other voters in his community if possible. Unless he does so, misguided votes may prevail and breed corruption in the community.

It is the votes of misguided voters that transform an otherwise humble person in a village into an imperious autocrat or a dishonest one once he sits in the barangay hall, municipal hall, or Malacanang.

***

Barangay votes confer power and the perks of leadership on an individual. Thus, a vote should be well-considered so that it will produce a statesman, a responsible public servant.

It is misguided votes that produce a tyrant or a betrayer of the public trust. And only a thin line that separates the two, a thin line separating a leader from a misleader.

Thus, people need to be aware of what their vote can do, and what events it can precipitate.

For a vote is like a power-of-attorney or a letter of authority that confers certain privileges, rights, or powers to an otherwise simple person. Let us not belittle the barangay vote.

(Manny Valdehuesa Jr. is a former Unesco regional director for Asia-Pacific; secretary-general, Southeast Asia Publishers Association; director, Development Academy of Philippines; member, Philippine Mission to the UN; vice chair, Local Government Academy; awardee, PPI-Unicef outstanding columnist. He is chairman/convenor of the Gising Barangay Movement Inc.. E-mail: valdehuesa@gmail.com)