‘Don’t vote for barangay poll bets with drug links’

MANILA, Philippines — Candidates involved in the illegal drug trade should not win in the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa said yesterday.

“Please don’t vote for... barangay captains, councilmen who you know are involved in illegal drugs,” Dela Rosa urged the public during a press briefing at Camp Crame.

“I am campaigning to the people in barangays, please use your conscience,” he said.

Dela Rosa said he would go to church every day to seek divine intervention to ensure that candidates suspected to be involved in the illegal drug trade will lose.

He said voters should not be enticed by bribes from candidates who could have sourced their funds from the drug trade.

At least 289 village officials, including 143 barangay captains, were found to be involved in illegal drugs, according to Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency director general Aaron Aquino.

Aquino said 207 of these officials remain active in the drug trade while 82 were either killed or arrested in anti-drug operations or have died of natural causes.

House OKs poll postponement

 Meanwhile, the House of Representatives voted 164-27 yesterday to approve on third and final reading the bill resetting the elections from May 14 to Oct. 8 this year.

Rep. Sherwin Tugna, chairman of the House committee on suffrage and electoral reforms, said it is up to the Senate to approve the counterpart measure.

Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III had earlier said there is no guarantee that they would pass a counterpart bill. He said the proposal would go through the normal legislative process.

Some senators said there is no more time to pass the measure.

If passed into law, it will be the third time that the barangay and SK elections will be postponed. The election, which was set on October 2016, was postponed to October last year and then to May 14.

The Liga ng mga Barangay said it supports the postponement of the elections to allow a bigger campaign expenditure per voter and extend the term of barangay officials.

Spending P5 per voter is “not realistic,” Ricky Corpus, Liga ng mga Barangay Metro-Manila chapter president, said.

Corpus said the three-year term of barangay officials is not enough to perform their duties. – Delon Porcalla, Mayen Jaymalin