(Photo from Flickr*)
It’s the elections season once again. You know the drill. Righteous-looking faces with semi-famous, easy-to-remember family names start showing up on our trees, posts, waiting sheds, and walls. Somewhere between 9 to 11 AM, novelty campaign tunes start playing. Sometimes, they also do a 3-5PM sesh. Do you look forward to the barangay elections with a heart full of hope or do you just sigh, get on with your daily grind and think that this is just another seasonal thing? Honestly, I feel more of the latter. But I’m not losing hope.
I always say that if all barangay officials of all barangays did their jobs well, we wouldn’t need party lists. Why? Because nobody will be marginalized. Nobody will get “left behind”. If all officials just took care of their nook, then people’s grassroots problems will be dealt with easily. I know I will not go far with this but I’ll take a shot.
Dear Everyone Who’s Running for the Barangay Elections,
I don’t care if your position is the captain or the kagawad. And yes, this small letter may also be directed to your wives, husbands and family. I hope you’ll really pay attention to the problems that wound our beautiful city.
Number 1, the flood. I remember having a meeting somewhere in Torres last week and when heavy rain started to pour, everyone panicked. We all know that if we didn’t get out of there, in 15 minutes our cars will be panting their way through the flood. Also, Uyanguren’s main streets are really disgusting and impossible to cross without dipping your feet in dirty canal/rain water if it rains hard for about 20 minutes. This isn’t the Davao I know. Candidates, please take a second look at this and make sure flood doesn’t happen in YOUR beloved barangay.
Number 2, the waste. There are still a lot of unattended garbage cans, wayward garbage bags and waste in some of the street corners and sidewalks. Can you take a closer look on this, please? Can we also take penalty for spitting and throwing cigarette butts in public areas more seriously? Our city used to be cleaner and greener. Don’t know what happened.
Number 3, better health centers please. I don’t know what the rules are about the number and standards of health centers but I think 1. We need more of them, 2. The existing ones need to be seriously updated and 3. We have a lot of sanitation and family planning problems. I hope something can be done about this. Maybe the head of barangay officials and the Department of Health can all put together educational AVPs, distribute more supplements, and have cozier centers.
That’s what’s brewing at the top of my mind right now. I’m sure the others have more ideas. Don’t hesitate to hit the comment box below! Thanks! 🙂
(*the image just showed up in Google search, with no links to the orig source)
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