Heroes of the May 14 elections

By Philippine Information Agency (PIA 8)
May 25, 2007

TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte   –  People of Eastern Visayas do not to wait long or look far to be able to find a hero or to be reminded of how thin the line is between being a hero and being a villain.

To know that the odds are so high that only through the perishing of your life will the minions survive, that's love. That's heroism.

This is what struck the author upon learning the heroic deed of the three members of the Board of Election Inspectors of Barangay Tula, Paranas, Samar. Chairman Hilario Abalos, poll clerk Socorro Paconio and third member Salvacion Cañete risked their lives protecting and saving the accountable election documents during the May 14, 2007 elections.

Barangay Tula is a remote barangay of Paranas, Samar which is composed of 365 people in 56 households. It could be reached by boat crossing the rapids.

The day before the elections, the members of the Board of Election Inspectors, bringing with them the ballot box and the election paraphernalia, took the boat going to Barangay Tula. Because of strong currents, the boat capsized but the teachers held on to the election paraphernalia and waited for thirty minutes before they were saved.

Indeed, a hero is someone who understands the degree of responsibility that comes with his freedom. The three teachers as soon as they reached dry lands, laboriously and patiently dried the election materials so that the voters at Barangay Tula could use them the following day.

And so it came to pass that the voting in the Barangay was successfully implemented. On the way home to the town proper of Paranas, the three teachers bravely crossed the rapids again.

Once more, the boat capsized, but this time, the three teachers have safely wrapped the ballot box and the election returns with a plastic bag. That is how the sacred votes of the people of the remote barangay Tula were saved.

The Commission on Elections in Region 8 headed by Regional Director Zacarias Zaragosa lost no time in recognizing the heroic deeds of these three teachers. On May 20, Comelec 8 invited the three teachers to the Comelec Office in Tacloban and gave them awards of Commendation.

Paranas Elections Supervisor Lemuel Yangao and Police Inspector Emmanuel Arteche of the Paranas PNP accompanied the three teachers during the simple awarding ceremonies.

There are other heroes besides Mr. Abalos, Ms. Paconio and Ms. Cañete, during the last elections in Region 8. Take the case of a politician who did well during her entire government service but opted not to run anymore “so that the people will not be exposed to too much corruption.”

A hero, indeed, is the politician who despite of being left alone stood beside his political comrade knowing that his local government has been taken cared of all these years by the same comrade. True, real heroes are men who fall and fail and are flawed, but win out in the end because they've stayed true to their ideals and beliefs and commitments.

Heroes are the voters in Region 8 who stood by their principles and voted for the candidates of their choice despite temptations of gold and threats of guns.

And why are we writing about these heroes? Because of the realization that courage is more exhilarating than fear and in the long run it is easier.