By Penelope A. Domogo, MD
In 2008 when we were organizing barangay community health teams (CHTs) in Mountain Province, we asked the residents how were leaders chosen then and how are they chosen now. For these discussions, we separated the men from the women, the elected officials, health sector, education sector and religious groups. These varied groups were one in saying that ,then (“id kasin”), a good leader was chosen based on his traits – should be “lumakay” (an older man), “natured”(brave enough like facing disputes), “nagaget” (hard-working), “naanos” (patient/tolerant), “matalek” (trustworthy). And one other important condition to be a leader then was “wada kabaelana” (has a lot of resources). They explained that then, community leaders didn’t receive any renumeration and yet they were expected to feed visitors and help those in need, so the leader had to be wealthy. Then, a leader of the “ili” (community) did not have to know how to read and write. Why he had to be an older person was because a leader was expected to know the “linteg” and culture of the “ili”. And it is presumed that wisdom comes with age. Why the leader had to be male was that issues faced by leaders at that time required, aside from wisdom, brute strength – like tribal disputes, medical emergencies. The leader had to be in the frontline of these. They further informed us that, then, a leader was chosen by consensus of the “dap-ay” or “ato” based on the above characteristics. There were no term limits as not many people aspired to be the leader- after all, it was much work which required a lot of sacrifice, was sometimes dangerous and had no monetary renumeration.
The manner of choosing the leader changed when our American colonizers introduced the voting system or elections. I was so amused when my daughter related to me the manner of election when people of the Cordillera were not yet literate. She and her team were then researching the history of Bontoc for the centennial book TAWID. She related that, at first, in the 1920’s, candidates were seated in a row and voters gathered around their candidate- this was “fotos am-among”. Hmm…that is indigenizing elections. But you could imagine the mob. Thus this was changed to a more organized manner- “fotos linlinya”- voters would line up behind their candidate and whoever got the most people in his line won. It is like the game “longest line”! I guess this is how choosing the leader became a game. The winners were known immediately and I would say there was no way to cheat in this kind of game. It helped that there were fewer voters then.
Semi-secret ballots were introduced in the 1930s through “Fotos Kin-nolor”. I recommend you read TAWID to learn more about the funny experiences. This heritage book is available in at Mount Cloud in Baguio City and in Gaia Giving Tree Gift Shop, Sagada.
Presently, we have a secret balloting system. Just like any game, there are players and there are rules. The key players are the voters and those to be voted upon or the candidates. Other players are the spouse of the candidate (sometimes the key player), family/clan, advisers, campaign managers, financers, media, watchers, board of canvassers, COMELEC staff and the spectators.
What are the rules? For now, let us focus on the basic rules governing the key players. COMELEC says that a voter has to be registered. Registration requires that the person needs to be at least 18 years old, male or female, at least one year residence in the Philippines and at least 6 months residence in the place where he plans to vote. He or she does not need to be literate as somebody can write for him/her. All the voter needs to do is go to the precinct where his name is registered and vote for his choice of leader at the designated day of elections. The illiterate voter is at a disadvantage here because she doesn’t know if her choice was really what the assistant wrote. In earlier days, in the case of “Fotos Linlinya” and “Fotos Kin-nolor”, the voter was sure whom she voted for, unless, of course, she was color-blind.
For the qualifications of an elective local official, I quote Section 3 of Batas Pambansa Bilang 52
“An elective local official must be a citizen of the Philippines, a qualified voter; resident of the district, municipality, city or province where he proposes to be elected, as the case may be, for at least six (6) months at the time of the filing of his certificate of candidacy; must be at least twenty-one (21) years of age on election day; and must be able to read and write.” To be a congressman, you don’t even thave to graduate Grade 6.
The participants in the CHT workshops I mentioned at the start of this column were well aware of these new qualifications. It must have been sad for the “amam-a” (elders) as these new qualifications made most of them ineligible. Makes me sad also. In indigenous societies, we value the wisdom of the elders. The participants said that presently a leader or a candidate can be young in age as long as he knows how to read and write. And they said that present leaders now are chosen based on their money and relations. Recently, I heard somebody say that politicians need 3Ps – pera or pilak, power and prestige- to join the game of politics. Some said, however, that some voters consider “ugali” or character in choosing their candidate. This game of elections is a great opportunity to know the our character and that of our friends and that of the candidates.
The election game starts officially during the filing of candidacy – this is akin to fielding of players. Although, of course, just like any game, there are much preparations earlier. The major player in this game are the candidates. Incumbents or those who already have been elected in office, have the benefit of showing their caliber with their performance while in office. They have the benefit of showing how well (or how poor) they can function as an elected official. Actually, their performance while in office is their best campaign strategy. Are they serving the people by doing their role diligently or are they just fattening their pockets for the next election? How have they handled this covid pandemic? How have they helped people and made life easier during this pandemic? Here in Mountain Province, we have executives who are models of good governance and we can see how their areas of jurisdiction have moved forward from being poor to being abundant (even during this pandemic) harnessing local talents and local produce, among other things and creating pride as a people. And this is because they have transparency and the vision and political will to really lead people to holistic development, not dependency or kanya-kanya.
The other major players are the voters. Have we, as voters, observed how our officials work? The wise voter should also take this time to prepare to cast his or her vote and that would be to evaluate the performance of the political leader. Or do we vote for an official because he is a relative? or friend? Or because we have “utang no loob” for employing our anak or promoting us? It’s so frustrating to see government employees slacking on the job just because they were handpicked by an official. It is so frustrating to see people get promoted based on connections, not based on merit. It’s a waste of our hard-earned money. Employees who got jobs because of connections should have the sense to do their best. That’s how you would best express your thank you to that official. And could we, voters, in general, just help our elected officials deliver the best services to the majority of the people with bias to the needy? Our problem in Mountain Province is our mindset that we are all poor. Do I say we were conditioned to think we are poor? But let’s be grateful and take credit. With the sipag and thriftiness of i-Mountain Province and general improvement of our economy, will we still say we are poor? The mushrooming of big buildings around speaks of the opposite. And at this point in our history, voters should not be swayed at the last minute by money or promise of favors.
The list of candidates have already been publicized. This really is a game – it is a race! We know who will run for this and that and it is interesting to see a lot of new faces in the local scene. I was hoping that, like the olden times, the candidates will talk with each other and only one will be fielded if there is only one position and eight if there are eight positions. This would be healthy – much less stress for the candidate as he or she won’t have to smile so much or spend much money or other resources to win votes. It would also be much less stressful for us, voters – we don’t have to lie to candidates whom we’ll not vote for. Really! But apparently, many people want to play and some who have been playing this game cannot give up. I heard that this game of politics is addicting.
The various players will act their roles. Somebody said “Now starts the time for lies.” I hope not. We can always have a win-win situation. It would be a win-win game if there is fair play and no cheating. This game of local elections happens every three years. That’s enough time for the players- the advisers, candidates, voters, families/clans, financers, etc. – to think of how to make this game a pleasant and honorable one. The candidate alone can’t do this. We have to help each other and as indigenous peoples, we have a rich heritage of honorable servant leadership. In a homily in All Saints Cathedral, the Reverend Lioba Achawon said the Bible doesn’t say much about being a leader. She said that what is repeated very often in the book of life is about “being a servant, a steward and a disciple of Christ.” She stated the 3 Cs we need to ask ourselves as Christians or as God’s children and as leaders – 1) What is your character? 2) What is the center of your life? And 3) What is your contribution in this life?
We need to choose our leaders well, with the guidance of the Almighty. Voting is a right and a duty. We are paying much taxes for their salaries and budgets for programs and projects, although many are not aware of this. So there is public money- it is never enough for everybody’s needs but it is there. How it is managed and where it goes depends on our political leaders. ***
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“Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be the first must be your slave.” Matthew 20:26-27
