On the SK Federation

Recently, the SK (Sanggunian Kabataan) federation in Aklan would like to choose its leaders. (SK is a part of a govermental body in the Philippines, part the smallest unity of which is called barangays) The voters are elected by the SK chairmen who won in the last barangay elections. A formandee in our institutional formative school is one of them. I came to know of this election of the Federation the night before the election itself. If I could not have asked him, I could have no other way of knowing his intention to vote. (Due to some circumstances, he seemed not to succeed to express it to me).

To vote is a right – right of suffrage and it is constitutional. I am happy that some concerned leaders of the province of Aklan are very conscious of this right. Surely they would say that the vote is sacred and it expresses the dignity of man especially the right of choose. This has to be absolutely respected and defended until the end.

Though suffrage is a right, it is not however an obligation. All citizens of this country have also the right to waive this right if he feels that by doing his very vote would not be respected. This was true when during the time of Marcos this sacred right was out rightly violated since there were rampant switching of ballot boxes, intimidation, violence, etc, so much so that even the CBCP declared it was not credible.

In the last local elections, not only vote buying was a modus operandi of the candidates but also vote selling became a way of life of the voters especially the poor. Any sensible person in our province have noticed this once covert phenomena.

We ask ourselves Do we really defend the right of suffrage and the sanctity of the vote by allowing its manipulation? Do we really respect the freedom of choice when before elections we count the votes according to partisan affiliation and figure who would win and thus diminishing this freedom of choice? This would be a good way of asking ourselves of our intention to respect the right of suffrage.

With our good leaders, we will continue to defend the sanctity of the ballot, on the one hand and we will continue to denounce any manipulation of the vote, on the other, since it is an insult to the right of suffrage which all of us are defending.

We will continue to respect the right of suffrage and the right to waive it if the votes are not respected and are used in a vicious manipulative manner.

We will continue together with men of good will to impart to our youth honesty, freedom to choose, respect for the constitution and the right to expression, integrity, authenticity, love of God and love of country!