‘Ghost’ voters and sore losers

Except with the few isolated violent incidents that erupted in areas that were earlier declared as “hot spots” of contest among candidates, the just concluded barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) held last Monday were the most successful. That, as far as Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benhur Abalos Jr. was concerned. Abalos credited it much to the innovations and “very stringent” regulations the Commission on Elections (Comelec) implemented during the BSKE held all over the country.

Abalos likewise thanked both the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) as deputized law enforcement arms of the Comelec for exercising maximum tolerance. Abalos noted, however, the entire process of BSKE were completed without any major election-related violence. This, despite the 19 casualties reported due to the intense rivalry of candidates and their supporters. It mostly happened in the areas under Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

Overall, the DILG chief cited the generally peaceful and orderly BSKE taking place again in our country after three postponements, one after the other, in the past. The last barangay polls were held in May 2020.

The first postponement was in November 2016 when the past Congress reset this to May 2020. It was former President Rodrigo Duterte who vouched to the previous Congress to postpone the BSKE. Among other reasons, the former Davao City Mayor cited fears on the alleged “narco politics” have seeped down the level of barangays which are the country’s most basic political units.

On the other hand, the last SK elections were held in May 2018. Then, a new law was passed that synchronized the holding of the barangay and SK elections.

However, Mr. Duterte asked Congress to postpone anew the BSKE to December 2022. Another law, though, was subsequently passed by the present 19th Congress that moved the date of BSKE to the last Monday of October 2023. President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. signed it into law as Republic Act (RA) 11935.

In June this year, however, the Supreme Court struck down RA 11935 as unconstitutional and declared “the law