Posters have been appearing on posts and walls along the streets, and I must admit that most of the candidates for kagawad in my barangay are unfamiliar to me. A neighbor is running for re-election, and I’m voting for him of course: actually, his is the only name I’m putting down, because he, too, wants to top the election.
I’ve had occasion to participate in a case brought before our barangay council, when several of my neighbors filed a complaint against some un-neighborly character landing a helicopter in what used to be a vacant lot in the vicinity, particularly at unholy, early morning hours. I attended the hearing–if that is what you call barangay sessions–to lend moral support to the complainants and to add to the unified voice of protest. The hearing was held at the home of our barangay captain–since we don’t have a barangay hall, the residence of the captain, whoever he or she may be, serves as the office–and I was greatly impressed and pleased with the dispatch and efficiency of the proceedings. By the way, the helicopter landings stopped.
We really should take a more active part in barangay affairs. Historically the basic unit of social governance, the barangay can be most effective in handling and solving community problems like garbage and peace and order. When solved on the barangay level, problems do not escalate into municipal or even national crises, and our national "leaders" can then be left to their inquiries, investigations and other inanities.