The warning by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) that those candidates in the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) who will violate campaign rules will be prosecuted once they are brought to the poll body’s attention or caught by its officials red-handed will be prosecuted, is easier heard than heeded by those concerned.
Yes, five days into the campaign period, anywhere one goes he or she can easily observe how the rules are mocked by the candidates. Say, the rule on posting campaign materials in COMELEC-designated areas only – so many of the posters of candidates are seen outside the area either posted or hung.
Considering the size of Davao City alone and the very limited number of personnel of COMELEC, as well as those who are willing to volunteer information on the violation, and the personalities involved, we wonder if the poll body still has the time to monitor and institute the necessary measures to penalize the erring candidates.
Besides, has the COMELEC enough resources to run after the violators with the agency’s limited budget for 2023 and pursue the cases until the end? We doubt it.
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Talking of the October 30 BSKE we read in the papers that there are 27 barangays in Davao City whose barangay captains are running reelection are reportedly unopposed. Eleven of them are from the third district.
We have no doubt that their performance as barangay chief executives has something to do with their exceptional feat. We know of at least two of the super-performing village heads. They are the lady barangay captain of Biao Joaquin and the youthful barangay captain of Mintal, a youner Bargamento scion who was once a disc jockey at the UMBN fm station.
We have been to their areas of jurisdiction many times and the developments they have brought to their respective barangays are easily distinguishable.
Hence, we are not surprised to read such news. We can only hope that in the next barangay polls many who are like them will win and serve their constituents the way the two – and perhaps the 25 others –serve their barangays.
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The management of an animal shelter establishment in Matina Aplaya is crying foul over the statement of the City Health Office (CHO) posted on its Facebook page claiming that the inspectors of the agency were denied entry to the shelter compound.
According to Ken Amante, founder of the Happy Animal’s Club, the CHO’s statement as posted in its social media page “was not what they had hoped for, claiming they never denied entry to local health inspectors and officials”
He said in his own social media post that instead of calling for a talk to clarify issues raised by a few households living nearby, the CHO immediately ordered for the shelter’s closure. Amante also disclosed that there is now a petition being passed around for signature citing the implications that the closure could bring to the animals in the shelter.
The founder added that the shelter has long served the community by giving refuge to as many as 300 stray dogs and cats “providing them with love, safety and rehabilitation.”
By forcing its closure “we are not just displacing these vulnerable beings but exposing them to a potentially tragic fate.”
And if we may add our own apprehension, by closing the said animal shelter the CHO is knowingly exposing the public of the dangers of rabies and other diseases that may be caused by the bites of these animal “refugees” that would likely be left to roam around the city streets.
That is of course if the CHO will not condemn the animals to the garrotes of the city dog pound butchers and some cat meat-eating “mongrels” disguised as humans.
