EDITORIAL - Know your candidates

After several postponements, it looks like the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan or youth council elections will finally push through next month. With aspirants now filing their certificates of candidacy, people should spend some time getting to know those applying to become officials in the country’s smallest political units.

This is because it looks like President Duterte is not exaggerating when he says there are thousands of barangay captains and council members on his narco list. Knowing the candidates is also important because even village officials who are not into drugs can make life miserable for the public through corruption, incompetence and laziness.

Barangay and youth council officials represent government at the grassroots. The barangay units play a critical role in the delivery of basic services such as garbage collection and keeping the public safe. They are tasked to prevent squatting and to help enforce not only city ordinances but also specific laws such as those protecting women and children from domestic violence.

The success of any campaign against illegal drugs depends a great deal on the commitment to the effort and the efficiency of barangay and SK officials. Youth councilors, who are criticized for merely wasting public funds, can make themselves useful by serving as role models in eschewing illegal drugs and obeying the law.

Barangay units are also authorized to raise their own funds. The power has been abused and has added more layers to the mountains of red tape that make doing business in this country such a pain. Voters should get to know which candidates understand the need to facilitate rather than hinder legitimate businesses, especially micro enterprises.

With a new set of barangay and SK officials coming in, government auditors should do their job and see how those village funds were raised and spent. For example, where do all the parking fees collected in the streets of Metro Manila go? Most of the fees are collected by barangay personnel. Are the public funds used for public purposes?

Elections provide an opportunity for change. By getting to know the candidates in the barangay and SK polls, people can do their part in seeing to it that any change will be for the better.