by EARL O. CONDEZA, ACE R. MORANDANTE, JOHN RIZLE L. SALIGUMBA, TYRONE A. VELEZ Davao Today DAVAO CITY (12:00 nn) – Election officers claimed the barangay election as “orderly.” But…
Kaugmaon executive director Florie Butiong-Tacang said their campaign has only reached ten per cent success in minimizing child labor working on hazardous conditions. Their study showed cases where children worked in packing urea fertilizer in a refinery, and others cleaning bottles for a recycling plant. In both cases, children worked without protective gear and even worked overnight for days.
The festive atmosphere is of course a masquerade. Behind the merriment and the hullabaloo are the clandestine vote-buying and other shady deals that transpire in the dark between patrons and candidates. The patrons are usually figures from a political party or a political dynasty. . And there are more happenings between the candidates and followers, and so on and so forth. Oh, sometimes, between the contending bets themselves!
A man volunteers in pasting mini-posters for a candidate in the October 28 Barangay Election. (davaotoday.com photo by Ace R. Morandante)
An array of campaign streamers and tarpaulin are seen along a downtown area on Friday at the first day of the Barangay Election campaign. (davaotoday.com photo by Medel V. Hernani)