SUFFRAGE

SUFFRAGE --- Never mind the backdrop of rumbled chairs so long voters cast their ballots at one of the precincts in Cotabato City Central Pilot School. Anyhow, the room will be fixed and kept tidy when volunteers come for the 2019 Brigada Eskwela. (Photo by Rachel Baguio)

Editorial

Keeping election as a political service 

The 2019 midterm local government election is over. We welcome new political comers, those who have won their first election. For those re-elected, we expect these people to keep going with their mandated business and thrive more in service of the people. Whoever got elected, the people’e trust has been bestowed upon these breed of leaders… may these elected officials not faulter the people. 

Indeed, the voice of the people has sounded through the exercise of democratic suffrage. Political participation, however, does not end in an election. People have to monitor the performance of the elective officials for the latter are answerable to the public. Ours is a participatory government and there are mechanisms by which the elected officials can be subjected to recall if they commit a disservice to the people, though this process comes nil in actual event, but certainly this could be asserted if need be under circumstances. People cast their votes and the same people can cast out the unfits through the legal process.

Voicing constructive criticism is one effective means by which the people can put a check on abusive or non-performing government official. Reportage of abuses or graft and corrupt practices is another way of exposing these anomalies committed by government officials. If out of fear in exposing these irregularities, questionable government transactions can be coursed through certain organizations involved in anti-graft/corruption movement.

Failure to report anomalies or government irregularities committed by elected officials would only diminish the core values of public service to the loss of the public. Voters give the political candidates the needed win and the plurality of votes should be reciprocated by genuine delivery of mandated services and exemplary performance worthy of a public servant.

When political candidates woo the people, they better perform well if they get the votes… otherwise the wrath of the people will come their way (not literally but in legal ways). There are eyes and ears watching unless these are plucked away to silence the lambs.

What we are inducing is the point of wider political participation in governance… that people’s participation goes beyond election. Participation is monitoring the performance of elected officials as well as career government personnel to ascertain that they exercise the mandates. Participation includes supporting the programs and projects that would uplift the general public, otherwise the development blueprints laid down by our representatives would only be put to waste in rot. 

Politics is a partnership between those who occupy public positions and the general public. If one decays, then the part has to be plucked out. Winning in an election is a public trust and such should be reciprocated by unselfish public service. Good leadership is people’s win in an election so long the exercise of suffrage is utmost credible and the intent of rendering public service is a matter of unblemished motivation and credence.

For those who will be taking their oath of office as elected officials, do not fail the people. Let not public performance be translated into a disaster. People don’t deserve a tragic disaster out of their votes. The people is the government… the government is of the people, by the people, and for the people --- let us keep it this way. 

Ex-ARMM governor, regional speaker win congressional seat

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Don E. Sero Elementary School supports Brigada Eskwela 2019

A Technical Working Group (TWG) has been organized by the Don E. Sero Elementary School in Cotabato City incidental to the implementation of Brigada Eskwela 2019 under the theme “Matatag na Bayan para sa Maunlad na Paaralan.”

The TWG works as a support mechanism to oversee the planning and implementation of the Brigada Eskwela in coordination with other organizations.

The Schools Division of Cotabato City kicked off the week-long annual program, the National Schools Maintenance Week,  last May 20 at the Buaya-Buaya Elementary School in preparation to another school year in June, its opening set on June 3.

This activity once again would gather education officials, teachers, parents and students, barangay volunteers,  and other stakeholders to work collaboratively for the preparedness of the

the school premises and physical structures before the opening of School Year 2019-2020.. 

The TWG is headed by Emily Jean B. Omandam, Principal I, and co-chaired by Johairah M. Kasan, Brigada Eskwela coordinator. 

Kasan said the annual undertaking is important in addressing the problem on physical facilities such as the needed repairs and renovation and the checking of other sites for the welfare of the learners “since they stay longer in the school than in their homes.”

Repainting, pruning of grasses and trees, and repair of ceilings are some of the line-up of activities  in the program of work, Kasan said.

Omandam, on her part, said acts of volunteerism is one high value to promote the “bayanihan” spirit in a community where the school is part of the matrix.

She emphasized that the community has to value the school system in as much as education is a vehicle by which students learn the dynamics of personhood and that the school itself must be ensured of its safety as home to the children who undergo the rudiments of learning and the honing of skills. (SIRIKIT M. DUMAMBA, T-III, DON E. SERO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL – MINDANAO EXPOSE’)

CCNHS-Main Campus conducts early enrolment

THE Cotabato City National High School (CCNHS) - Main Campus is conducting  since May 2 its early enrolment in preparation for School Year 2019-2020.

Dr. Panfilo O. Cedeño, CCNHS Principal IV, said the early enrolment continues until the first day of classes so the school could determine the number of sections to be created, distribution of students per section, number of teachers and books, number of chairs, and the needed augmentation of facilities.

He said the early enrolment schedule will prevent pressure on the mass influx of students a week before the opening of classes and further accommodate those who have spent their vacation outside Cotabato City.

One of the basic requirements for enrolment is the computer-generated birth certificate issued by the Philippines Statistic Authority (PSA) aside from the school credentials for new comers and transferees.

As enrolment is going on in different schools, parents are advised to enroll their  children in the school nearest their homes to address the problems of tardiness, absenteeism, and even traffic.

Teachers who are serving during the early enrolment program are given service credit as an incentive.

As of last week, the CCNHS – Main Campus has already registered an enrolment of  700 students  in different grade levels. (FLORENTINA R. SALAVEN, TEACHER III, CCNHS - MAIN CAMPUS – MINDANAO EXPOSE’)

64 poll-related violence recorded in BARMM

COTABATO CITY --- Authorities recorded only 64 violent incidents related to the May 13 elections in southern provinces, much lower than the figures logged during the 2016 electoral season.

Army Lt. Gen. Arnel dela Vega of the Western Mindanao Command said last May 14 that there were 96 violent incidents related to the 2016 synchronized local and national elections in Regions 9, 10, 12, and in what is now the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, or BARMM.

The BARMM covers Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi that originally belonged to the now defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

The incidents in 2016 included 25 gun attacks and 51 bombings pulled off using fragmentation grenades and improvised explosive devices.

Dela Vega said most of the incidents related to the synchronized local and senatorial elections last May 13 were confusion involving supporters of politicians and a few gun attacks.

Records from WestMinCom’s 6th Infantry Division, which covers Central Mindanao, and the Police Regional Office - Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, indicated that more than a hundred gun owners were apprehended for violating the poll body’s ban on carrying of firearms from the start of the election period in 2018 to July this year.

The 6th ID and PRO-BARMM cover dozens of towns in Central Mindanao, where residents have a strong culture of keeping firearms both as status symbol and as protection from adversarial clans.

Brig. Gen. Graciano Mijares, director of PRO-BARMM, said there were six explosions of 40 millimeter grenade projectiles in Cotabato City and in Datu Odin Sinsuat town in Maguindanao from between Sunday (May 12) to late Monday (May 13).

“Fortunately, no one was injured in the explosions. Just the same, the explosions triggered panic among local residents,” Mijares said

Mijares said the explosives, fired from a distance using launchers, landed and exploded in open fields.

Maj. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division said the May 13 election activities in Maguindanao, which covers 36 towns, were generally peaceful.

“We had enough preparations and our security missions under the supervision of the Commission on Elections were done in tandem with PRO-BARMM,” Sobejana said. (MEDIA PARTNER – MINDANAO EXPOSE’

First lady governor of Maguindanao proclaimed

MAGUINDANAO LADY GOVERNOR --- Election officials proclaim  Bai Mariam Sangki-Mangudadatu (4th from left) as governor-elect of Maguindanao last May 16 at Shariff Kabunsuan Complex in Cotabato City together with the province’s Congressman-elect Datu Ronne Sinsuat (3rd from left), Vice Governor-elect Datu Lester Sinsuat, and several elected Board members of the province. Sangki-Mangudadatu is the first-ever lady governor of the 46-year-old province. (PHOTO COURTESY OF ELLA DAYAWAN – BANDERA RADIO COTABATO – MINDANAO EXPOSE’) 

COTABATO CITY --- The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) has proclaimed outgoing Mayor Bai Mariam Sangki-Mangudadatu of Datu Abdullah Sangki town as the governor-elect of Maguindanao province last May 16 in the afternoon.

Sangki-Mangudadatu made history as the first-ever lady governor of the 46-year-old province after winning over his closest rival, Freddie Mangudadatu, by more than 54,000 votes in the province’s 36 municipalities during the May 13 mid-term polls.

“From now on, the welfare of the people of Maguindanao always comes first before anything else,” she said when interviewed by reporters here following her proclamation.

The lady governor-elect is the wife of Governor-elect Suharto Mangudadatu of Sultan Kudarat province, who is the cousin of Freddie Mangudadatu, the outgoing mayor of Mangudadatu town in Maguindanao.

The COMELEC’s Provincial Board of Canvassers (PBOC), which held the 4 p.m. proclamation at the Shariff Kabunsuan Complex, the seat of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao here, said Sangki-Mangudadatu garnered a total of 256,338 votes to clinch the gubernatorial post as against Freddie’s 201,565 votes.

Also proclaimed were Datu Lester Sinsuat as vice governor-elect of Maguindanao and Datu Ronnie Sinsuat as Congressman-elect of the province’s first district. Hours earlier on the same day, the PBOC correspondingly proclaimed outgoing Maguindanao Governor Esmael Mangudadatu as the Congressman-elect of the province’s second district together with his son, King Jazer, as Board member for the same provincial district. (NOEL PUNZALAN, PNA – COTABATO / MINDANAO EXPOSE’)

Guiani-Sayadi wins mayoralty

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Editorial

Women in political mids

The country’s political field is still dominated by the male gender despite the high statistical number of women voters. Does this mean that many women shy away from politics? Factors associated with this phenomenon remain researchable. By large, more men file their candidacies for government positions compared to women who surely have the potentials as competent and thrustworthy public managers given the historical accounts.

In Cotabato City, voters chose between two women for the mayoralty post --- incumbent Mayor Frances Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi and Rep. Bai Sandra Sema of Maguindanao (1st District) with Cotabato City. Guiani-Sayadi was elected as the city’s first lady mayor in the recent concluded May 13 midterm elections. She was an elected vice mayor when becoming a local chief executive by succession following the death of her brother-mayor, Japal Guiani, Jr., in 2016. It was during the administration of the Guianis that high economic investments infused into the city, generating more business opportunities and employment. City residents though have yet to feel what awaits their economic lives after affiliation with the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. Cotabato City also awaits the infusement of big investments from the Chinese business group --- the construction of an airport and seaport --- under the mayoralty leadership of a lady mayor, who is a lawyer. 

Maguindanao province has also its first elected lady governor in the person of Mariam  Mangudadatu, defeating another male-relative Mangudadatu. Voters in North Cotabato continue to prefer another woman to be their governor --- outgoing Rep. Nancy Catamco. Outgoing three-termer Governor Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza remains in politics as the proclaimed vice governor. Well, Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, daughter of President Rodrigo Duterte, is still popular in Davao City and so with the other sibs.

        For national figures, we have Cynthia Villar, Grace Poe, Pia Cayetano, and Nancy Binay who are back to the Senate. Outgoing Senator Loren Legarda  also won a congressional seat in her hometown. But these women have earned their respective popularity following public exposure and career-work performance.

Performance and trust could be the gauge for the ascendancy of women in politics other than the dynastic factor. Should the name first earn an edge in popularity for such ascendancy? One could be a good performer but can hardly ascend because she is an unknown figure. Or is politics a least preference among many women as a vocation to public service? Other women-winners, accordingly, ascended to politics because of sympathy votes but then later earned the support of the populace in due time, hence, making a spot in their names, which also contaminates the other family members.

For sure, we have dear women in our midst as political leaders. We give them our respect and support. What men can do, women can likewise do. Let us recognize women empowerment. We have moms or mothers as managers in the home; they, too, can be political managers whom we can rely and trust.