The barangay election that took place on Oct. 29th this year wasn’t a joke. Just like the national elections, this type of election is not different at all from the much larger picture that the government has to face in so far as expenditures are concerned. In fact, it took the national government billions of pesos in budget allocations just to keep the barangay elections going. And no matter how insignificant it may seem, it is an important part of the country’s political system. After all, the mayors and governors in the provinces rely heavily on the barangay officials for their support comes national elections. Barangay chairmen are the right people to talk with in terms of vote accumulations.
And it is no longe strange that during barangay elections, local mayors and governors in the cities and provinces do exert a great deal of pressures among the local barangay officials. There are certain local government politicians who dictate upon the decisions of their constituents as to who to vote for during election proper. Of course, this is done through the distribution of money among the target voters in order to favor the winnability of a certain candidate at that level. After all, holding the position of a barangay chairmanship in any given locality is power. Also consider the internal revenue allotment that the national government gives to the barangays so that this is the reason why many people do have interests in this lowly government post.