For a long time, President Duterte opposed the holding of barangay elections because many village officials, he said, were involved in drug deals and might use the dirty profits to get themselves reelected.
Before the elections last month, law enforcement agencies bared a so-called narco list with the names of thousands of barangay captains and councilors. Explaining the release of the list, the government said voters must be guided in making informed choices. Voters in several areas, however, ignored the warning. Perhaps drug money was at work; such is the nature of narco politics. Whatever the reason, several of those on the narco list reportedly won.
So it’s puzzling that the President earlier this week proposed arming barangay officials amid reports that about 20 of them had been killed in the first five months of the year. In fact the death toll among barangay officials is much higher, if you count those slain on suspicion of involvement in the illegal drug trade since the Duterte administration launched its bloody campaign in 2016.
Apart from drugs, a number of barangay officials have allowed themselves to serve as members of the private armies of political warlords. Barangay personnel in Maguindanao were among those accused of participating in the November 2009 massacre of 58 people, 38 of them media workers, in the country’s worst case of election-related violence.
The barangay is the smallest unit of government. Unfortunately for the country, there are barangays that are microcosms of the abuse of power, corruption and incompetence that are seen in larger government units. Arming such village officials – if they aren’t already in possession of unlicensed guns – can only embolden them to continue their abuses. If this plan pushes through, it can be the best thing that can happen to crooked barangay officials, especially those in the narco list.