Opposing views on electioneering ban

A barangay kapitan in Aguilar town was the subject of a complaint for electioneering, specifically, for campaigning for his favored candidate for mayor. 

Apparently, this is the interpretation of the law of the complainant, a provision in law that the Commission on Elections had emphatically made clear three years ago that barangay executives are barred from engaging in partisan politics during the campaign period, citing the Local Government Code.

However, here comes Atty. Romulo Macalintal, an election lawyer who maintains that elected barangay officials are not barred from engaging in partisan political activities during the campaign period.

He cited a Supreme Court decision in Quinto vs Comelec, February 22, 2010. “Only appointed civil service officers and employees, and not elected officials, are prohibited from engaging, directly or indirectly, in partisan political activities or any form of electioneering,” he said in a statement.

So where does that leave our elected barangay officials? 

In a situation like this, wisdom dictates that one adheres to the prohibition in law unless a barangay official deems it worth his/her time to challenge the law.

So far, Atty. Macalintal has not indicated he is prepared to defend any elected barangay official in case a complaint is filed against him or her. 

Love our own

SURELY, our own beaches dotting the Lingayen Gulf coastline teem today, Easter Sunday, with vacationers both homegrown and from neighboring places to include Metro Manila.  From to San Fabian to Lingayen all the way to Alaminos’ famed Hundred Islands are found fine sand escapades that can compare with even the world-renown Boracay. 

 So why must our kabaleyans go far when ours can easily pride themselves with their own beauty resembling that of a virtual paradise?  About time we stopped craving for Boracay and embrace what God has graciously given us.  In short, love our own.  If there’s one thing, though, that we should learn and emulate from the Boracay paradigm is this:  Smoking, alcohol drinking, littering, eating and playing loud music on our beaches must be strictly enforced.  To be clean and wholesome is our way of preserving Mother Nature—our very own. 

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