“Vox Populi, Vox Dei”: Voice of the People, Voice of God
For me, the Barangay Election is the most important of all elections. Yes, it may be the lowest with regards to constituency, power, salaries, or incentives compared to those of the Mayors, Governors, or Congressmen. But these elected barangay officials from Kagawads to Barangay Captains are the frontliners of the government, touching base everyday with the sovereign people who in a Republican State constitute the very essence of government. Isn’t it pronounced in the highest law of the land that, “In a democratic and republican State, power lies with the people and all government powers emanate from them?” Yes, the barangay officials are the frontliners. Just like in a war, they are the first line of defense where the winning or losing relies on them. Furthermore, these barangay officials play the most critical role in making life better for the common “Tao.”
It has been said that the “Tao” is poor because he is blind, weak, helpless, and oppressed. In the same breath we tell him that if you want to be free from the shackle of poverty, he must help himself. What do we think of him, a “batman”? Finally, we have already found a formula to make a “batman” out of him, that is, if the barangay elections will bring about the choosing of leaders who can aptly be called the “man of the masses.” Indeed, we need leaders in the grassroots who can be the voice of the people. Why must the poor suffer hunger and poverty, in a country oozing with ecological wealth as the land is so blest with natural resources? Our hills and plains are fertile and verdant which continuously yield diverse agricultural products. Our hinterlands are carpeted with remaining natural forest, very rich in diversity, notwithstanding killings of our dipterocarp trees through massive illegal logging in the last five decade. Such God given bounties do not end at the surface and shorelines. Beneath are minerals and ore deposits, described as the richest in the world. The bays are teeming with fish of every shape and hue.
It is against this backdrop that we deplore the onslaught of poverty which has regressed to levels which can only be described as alarming. Thus, based on the studies of development experts, the Filipinos are poor not because they lack the resources but because they lack the power to benefit from these resources. Empowerment therefore of the poor is the condition sine qua non to break the vicious cycle of poverty.
That process of empowerment should be foremost in the mindset of the those running in the barangay elections. They must have a clear understanding of the painful socio-economic-political-ecological realities besetting their respective barangays. In those barangays that have already lost their ecological security that have become vulnerable to ecological disasters, the elected officials must present a concrete and tangible strategies on how to pre-empt such disasters. Will they allow the continuing plunder of the remaining bounty of nature. This is the problem now besetting Barangay Balulang as the mini-forest in Manresa will be converted into condominiums and malls by the Cebu Landmasters, Inc. after Xavier University has sold the six-hectare area in Manresa that will put to extinction the 40 species of birds and the desecration of the burial place of the Jesuit pioneer priests. If you were running as barangay captain and you will sign an agreement with Cebu Landmasters, Inc. when elected, then better not run as such action is contrary to the voice of the residents in Balulang.
We now are in dire need of barangay officials who must stand for the welfare of the poor and the oppressed to effect social transformation in a highly skewed societal pyramidal order where only 200 families are in control of the economy. However, there can be no social change unless the Filipinos are conscientized on the contemporaneous societal realities besetting Philippine society.
As candidates, may I ask what is your dream for your respective barangays? Yes, all of us must hold fast to dreams for when dreams die, life is just a broken-winged bird that cannot fly. It is great to have dreams for oneself; it is even greater and noble to have dreams for your respective barangays especially for those whom you have all pledged to serve – the barangay people. You who will work for peace and development in this broken but beautiful island of Mindanao must have dreams for our people so as not to become automatons in this highly materialistic society, Let us therefore dream.
To dream that one day our struggling and oppressed people will scale the heights of progress, free from want and fear and living a decent and fully human life. To dream that one day our farmers will own the land they till and control the mode of production and marketing of their products, to enjoy the fruits of their labor as it is through the sweat of their brow that the land is made productive. To dream that our fisherfolk will have greater access to our waters and not the computerized trawlers which crane the seabed and destroy our corals. To dream that our vast plains that choicest of lands will yield food and fruits to feed the hungry in our own country and not those in foreign lands; that our natural resources, limited as they are, will not anymore be exploited, and if ever, to benefit the bulk of the people and not a few oligarchs. To dream of the future with a vision of hope, social justice, freedom, peace, and prosperity to our toiling people.
As you dream, have faith because “if you have faith even as small as a mustard seed and you tell the mountain to move from here to there, it will move.” With that dream and with that faith, there is no reason why you will not be given the privilege to serve the least of your brethren as such is the purpose of our life. PLEASE HAVE THOSE DREAMS, DEAR CANDIDATES, TO MAKE LIFE BETTER FOR THE POOR AND THE OPPRESSED AND NO DOUBT, YOU WILL SURELY WIN BECAUSE GOD WILL ALWAYS BE WITH YOU. Remember what King Solomon said in Ecclesiastes, “Wealth, fame and power are meaningless, utterly meaningless. What is important is how you have served the least of your brethren.” That is your mission, dear candidates – all for God’ greater glory. To you, my firm salute!
