Echoes From
BY JOHNNY DAYANG
Mockery of SK polls
The Sangguniang Kabataan electoral exercise was primarily conceived to give the young the opportunity to lead, pursue their ideals, and prepare them as future leaders. Outstanding among the features of this initiative is the exercise of suffrage rights free from the restraints of partisan politics.
Towards this noble objective, the Omnibus Election Code defines specific restrictions forbidding elected local officials from dipping their fingers in the SK and barangay polls.
The Commission on Elections has repeatedly warned politicians from interfering in this non-partisan electoral exercise.
In Surigao del Sur, however, these prohibitions are openly flaunted and desecrated, prompting progressive youth candidates and their supporters, for fear of being abducted, to seek sanctuary in the Tandag Pastoral Center where the CBCP president resides.
A few days ago, allies of Tandag Mayor Alexander T. Pimentel reportedly threatened the parents of supporters of SK candidate Emmanuel “Bobong” Lumanao, Jr., of displacement from their market stalls should their children support SK candidates not blessed by the municipal leadership.
Mayor Pimentel has denied knowledge of the alleged intimidation but his support to Lumanao’s SK opponent has been evident. He has endorsed openly his barangay and SK bets. Some people have already executed affidavits while his tape-recorded pronouncements have been gathered to pin the mayor down. If proven true, this makes him criminally and administratively liable under the law.
The arrogance of local gambling lords who control the ‘last-two’ number gambling game in the area and who openly support the mayor’s preferred bets, carries disturbing implications.
For one, the illegal gambling game has flourished with the obvious blessings of law enforcers, who qualify outright for penalty under the ‘one-strike policy’ of the PNP on illegal gambling.
To rectify these abuses the Commission on Audit (COA) may audit and find out where Pimentel’s peace and order funds have gone, while the Ombudsman must investigate the alleged diversion of public funds by some Tandag officials to personal projects.
Comelec, for its part, must prosecute erring leaders to prove it is serious in implementing the election laws.
Inspired by President Noynoy Aquino’s serious and determined reform initiatives, many Tandag citizens are now willing to take the cudgels for righteous governance. That’s a development the municipal leadership may have underestimated.
BY JOHNNY DAYANG
Mockery of SK polls
The Sangguniang Kabataan electoral exercise was primarily conceived to give the young the opportunity to lead, pursue their ideals, and prepare them as future leaders. Outstanding among the features of this initiative is the exercise of suffrage rights free from the restraints of partisan politics.
Towards this noble objective, the Omnibus Election Code defines specific restrictions forbidding elected local officials from dipping their fingers in the SK and barangay polls.
The Commission on Elections has repeatedly warned politicians from interfering in this non-partisan electoral exercise.
In Surigao del Sur, however, these prohibitions are openly flaunted and desecrated, prompting progressive youth candidates and their supporters, for fear of being abducted, to seek sanctuary in the Tandag Pastoral Center where the CBCP president resides.
A few days ago, allies of Tandag Mayor Alexander T. Pimentel reportedly threatened the parents of supporters of SK candidate Emmanuel “Bobong” Lumanao, Jr., of displacement from their market stalls should their children support SK candidates not blessed by the municipal leadership.
Mayor Pimentel has denied knowledge of the alleged intimidation but his support to Lumanao’s SK opponent has been evident. He has endorsed openly his barangay and SK bets. Some people have already executed affidavits while his tape-recorded pronouncements have been gathered to pin the mayor down. If proven true, this makes him criminally and administratively liable under the law.
The arrogance of local gambling lords who control the ‘last-two’ number gambling game in the area and who openly support the mayor’s preferred bets, carries disturbing implications.
For one, the illegal gambling game has flourished with the obvious blessings of law enforcers, who qualify outright for penalty under the ‘one-strike policy’ of the PNP on illegal gambling.
To rectify these abuses the Commission on Audit (COA) may audit and find out where Pimentel’s peace and order funds have gone, while the Ombudsman must investigate the alleged diversion of public funds by some Tandag officials to personal projects.
Comelec, for its part, must prosecute erring leaders to prove it is serious in implementing the election laws.
Inspired by President Noynoy Aquino’s serious and determined reform initiatives, many Tandag citizens are now willing to take the cudgels for righteous governance. That’s a development the municipal leadership may have underestimated.
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