THE ELECTIONS are barely a week away. Candidates for various elective positions from national down to local governments have barely six days to campaign before the Comelec ban on campaigning. Of course, this restriction is easier said than done.
Yes, the candidates should not be seen moving around and engaging voters a day before the election. However, their leaders are the ones braving the risk of getting caught by the Commission on Elections (Comelec). But as the saying goes, “There are many ways to kill a cat.” And both the candidates’ leaders and the candidates themselves always find ways to covertly do their final push for the positions they are running for.
The more aggressive among them use the day before the election date as the opportune time to implement schemes like buying votes and even intimidation. Meanwhile, for some unprincipled voters, the very day when campaigning is already prohibited by the law is the very time they hope to get some sudden mana—in cash or in kind—from local political gods and financiers.
It is on this vulnerability of the electorate that the well-heeled candidates, or those in the position to dispose of certain government assistance, take advantage of. They can opt either in cash or in kind in exchange for their votes. So, what is the likely choice, especially for the marginalized among our people?
***********************************
Before we inundate this column with election-related subjects, we would like to insert these two things that we feel deserve to get the attention of the proper government agency or Departments. We are referring to road concreting projects supposedly completed some two, three, or even five or more years back. These are in addition to the completed, yet unused, bridge connecting Barangay Catalunan Grande to Barangay Tacunan.
In Tacunan proper, roughly 300 meters away from the barangay hall, the road at the junction has been concreted for many years now. But a portion of one side leading to the crossing going to Congressman Polong Duterte’s residential compound in Catalunan Grande has not been cemented since then. This, despite the fact that when it rains hard, the water from the upper portion drains to the abandoned side.
Then we have this portion of the Calinan-Talandang-Luman toad leading to the new bridge spanning the Davao River. At the crossing, going to Sitio Banarao in Talandang, some 20 meters of the same road going to Lumanan remain unpaved with stones protruding, reminiscent of the kind of road in that specific location some 50 years ago.
We have yet to know if the concreting projects are implemented by the national or local government. Therefore, we are calling the attention of both the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the City Engineer’s Office (CEO) of the local government of Davao City.
We are hoping that either of the two agencies can send their people to find for themselves the actual condition of those portions of the roads we mentioned.
We supposed that when the agency or agencies concerned entered into contracts for the implementation of the concreting projects, it was not part of the agreements that this length should not be included in the cementing or expansion.
Imagine, with barely 20 meters before intersecting with another road, the concreting is stopped! And even assuming that the budget for the project barely allows the cementing of the road up to that particular point, at least the agencies concerned should have found ways to upgrade the condition of those particular portions of the roads. Say, why haven’t the DPWH or the CEO asphalted the mentioned road sections?
If these agencies have time and again overlaid asphalt on some newly cemented roads despite the very good condition that the roads are still in, why haven’t they set aside budgets for paving the mentioned sectors of those roads?
We are hoping that after the election, the elected officials will immediately call the attention of the agencies we have mentioned and discuss the issues raised. They cannot remain deaf and blind to the complaints of the people who feel the taxes they paid to foot the bills of road projects are not being spent accordingly.
