Local Democracy Thriving in the Sense That People Are Voting and the Same Families Are Being Voted For

Barangay Democracy in Action: Everybody Votes, the Reyes Family Wins

Barangay Santa Lucia in Quezon City held its local elections on Saturday in an exercise of grassroots democracy that produced a turnout of sixty-three percent, a festive atmosphere featuring banners, sound systems, and food stalls, and a complete set of results that an observer unfamiliar with the barangay might reasonably describe as a family reunion programme disguised as an election outcome.

The newly elected Barangay Captain is Rodrigo Reyes Jr., forty-three, son of former Barangay Captain Rodrigo Reyes Sr., who served from 2002 to 2018 before term limits required his temporary absence from the captaincy, during which period the position was held by his wife, Maricel Reyes, from 2018 to 2025. Rodrigo Jr. defeated challenger Cesar Manalo by a margin of forty-seven votes. Cesar Manalo’s post-election statement confirmed that he accepts the result and will continue to advocate for the barangay’s constituents from outside the barangay council, where he has been advocating from for the past twelve years.

The Council Results

Of the seven elected Barangay Kagawad positions, three are held by members of the Reyes family, two by members of the Santos family, whose relationship to the Reyes family through the marriage of Rodrigo Sr.’s cousin to Santos matriarch Gloria Santos in 1994 was described by political science professor Dr. Amelia Bautista as ‘the kind of dynastic consolidation that the Constitution meant to prevent but did not prevent effectively.’ The remaining two positions went to independent candidates who have both previously stated their intention to work constructively with the incoming administration.

The Voters Reflect

‘I voted for Rodrigo Jr. because his father did good things for the barangay,’ said resident Pacita Lorenzo, sixty-two. ‘His father built the waiting shed. His mother fixed the drainage. I expect Rodrigo Jr. will do something similar. This is how it works. You vote for the family that built the waiting shed. The other family did not build a waiting shed.’

Philippine election data at COMELEC. Comedy: The Daily Mash.

SOURCE: http://prat.UK