Today we mark the natal day of Bohol's most illustrious son, former Pres. Carlos P. Garcia. It is supposed to be a holiday for the entire province but considering that today is a Sunday, many are expecting to have the following day, Monday, be "sandwiched".

However, the so-called Gloria economics does not apply in a local holiday like the Garcia day as it is only Bohol where the holiday is observed.

Be that as it may, the provincial government has prepared a simple but fitting ceremony for the late Boholano president this morning starting with a holy mass at the St. Joseph Cathedral to be followed by the traditional wreath-laying ceremony. A commemorative program follows.

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The outcome of the barangay and SK elections here last Monday is expected to tilt the balance of power in the city sanggunian when the two new ex-oficio members sit in.

With only barangay Cabawan still awaiting for the proclamation of its punong barangay, the camp of City Mayor Dan Neri Lim has already identified 10 out of 15 allies sufficient enough to muster a comfortable majority in the Liga ng mga Barangay.

The same goes to the Sangguniang Kabataan which is also entitled to one seat in the city council.

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Following the declaration by the city mayor that the honeymoon period with the Vice Mayor Jose Antonio S. Veloso is already over, we expect that the battle lines shall now be drawn between the executive and legislative branches of the city government.

For the last four months, the administration city councilors failed to muster the numbers to come up with a majority. With the entry of the two new ex-oficio members, we also expect new political re-alignments from among the city councilors.

The new majority will be known next month following the assumption of the two new ex-oficio members and the re-alignment in the city council.

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At the rate the candidates resorted to massive and rampant vote-buying last Monday, we could not understand the reason why electorates continue to brickbat politicians for the same practice.

In the first place, the barangay election and SK elections were supposed to be non-partisan as provided for by law. Yet, the amount of vote-buying especially in the SK elections was even more expensive that ordinary local elections.

However, we do not even hear a whimper from the church, the civil society and the so-called election watchdogs howling in protest. Why? Is vote-buying justified if it is in the grass root level already? Shame.

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Last point. How much do elected barangay officials receive? Compare this to the amount spent by the candidates themselves and there is a kilometric disparity. As per our investigation, a candidate for barangay kagawad who made it to the Magic 7 spent at least P20 to a high of P100 per voter just to buy votes.

Could these newly-elected barangay officials recover the amount while in office through the honoraria that they will receive? Certainly not. How about kickbacks? If there is, the amount is too small to replenish.

But the question is why do they spend that much? That we would not exactly pinpoint. The nearest answer we would give is vanity, plain and simple.

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