Ate Glo fears she herself may not be able to vote

While bad weather may prevent President Arroyo from going to her hometown of Lubao, Pampanga to cast her ballot, she urged the public yesterday to go out and vote in today’s synchronized barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections.

Acting Press Secretary Silvestre Afable said the President is a registered voter of Lubao, but he said inclement weather may lead to the suspension of the voting there.

Silvestre said that should the Commission on Elections allow precincts to hold the elections in Lubao, Mrs. Arroyo will go there to vote.

Typhoon "Inday" brought more monsoon rains as it passed through Northern Luzon as it exited the country, while a series of weather disturbances during the last several days induced heavy rains and flooding.

On Saturday, the President urged voters to elect the right barangay officials in today’s elections because they will become frontliners in the government’s total war against criminality.

Barangay councils are the key basic unit of a "strong republic" that she wants to be the hallmark of the remaining years of her administration.

"We need a strong government, not for a few, but for all. We need a republic so strong that it could help and defend the poorest, the weakest of Filipinos," she said.

Voting is expected to take place in most of the 42,000 barangays and SK councils nationwide. More than 30 million voters are eligible to vote in the synchronized elections.

Politicians view barangay officials as potent political lieutenants during national and local elections.

The President has said the barangay and SK elections are a "very vital political exercise" as voters choose community leaders who will act as government’s frontliners in dealing with the people.

Mrs. Arroyo added that barangay officials are effective tools to stop terrorism and crimes at the local level because they are familiar with people in the community and are powerful partners in the fight against poverty at the grassroots.

Local residents run to barangay officials initially if problems occur in their communities and this makes them "direct representatives" of the government at the local level, she said.

Earlier in her weekly message to the citizenry, the President appealed for the holding of honest, orderly and peaceful elections today. The barangay and SK elections have already been postponed several times.

The SK councils provide a training venue for future "responsible leaders" and that a strong barangay is the foundation of strong democracy, she said.

"And since our future and the welfare of our communities lie in these (barangay) elections, it is but appropriate that we must vote rightly. Choose the candidates who are deserving and those with capability to take care of our barangays," she said. — Paolo Romero