September 20, 2007

Hon. Mary Mitzi L. Cajayon
Representative, Second District
Caloocan City

Dear Representative Cajayon:

I was disappointed when I found out that you are one of the co-authors of the stupid House Bill 2417, the bill that would have postponed for the third time the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections. And I am aghast when 149 of you voted to approve this bill on the third reading, and in the fastest time possible. Now if only you and your colleagues work that fast everytime. But I disgress.

By passing that said bill, you and the other 148 are denying us our right to elect and select our barangay officials. Not only that, you and the other 148 are denying us our right to hold our barangay officials accountable by voting them out of office if they have not done their duty. By passing that law, you and the other 148 are violating the Constitution by denying our right of suffrage.

I will tell you why your bill is stupid. This incident happened around 2:30AM today in a barangay in your district. I and other tax-paying citizens residing at your district were sleeping the sleep of the just when a woman began shouting. Then, more shouting from more people, and we got up from our beds thinking if there was trouble afoot. Me and my mother look outside and saw a clearly drunk woman shouting and cursing, while her friends and/or relatives were trying to restrain her. Some of them had to shout back just to restrain her, to no avail. Almost every home within 50 meters were affected by the ruckus.

No barangay official came to restore the peace. And the fact that the barangay captain is your compadre is just salt in the wounds. And don’t ask me for other instances where barangay officials were needed but were scant.

You see, Ms. Cajayon, it is precisely for this reason we need to elect new barangay officials. They had grown so comfortable being power that they had already forgotten their duties. For dereliction of duty, they should be voted out of office. But, no, you and the other 148 want to deny us this right.

During the last campaign period, you walked in our streets, shook our hands, promised to serve us. Now, can you come to our barangay and look straight in our eyes and say, “I am here to serve?” By denying us our right to vote, you do not serve us.

And a good thing, too, that I am a registered voter in Manila. Otherwise, you would have lost my vote. Anyway, see you in three years, when and if I decide to register in Caloocan, one of the worst cities in Metro Manila, because of short-sighted officials like you.

Respectfully yours,

Arbet Bernardo

PS:

The same goes to Representative Jaime Lopez, Second District, Manila, for co-authoring the same stupid bill.

PPS:

Want to know why they want to postpone the elections? Clue: networking.