Barangay elections are more expensive now

Barangay elections are more expensive now It's the eve of the campaign period for the Barangay and SK elections. At the stroke of midnight, the streets and alleys of the metro will once again take the shape of a 3-dimensional collage, plastered from end to end with faces and promises of the nation's smallest political unit.

In Brgy. Tatalon, Quezon City, incumbent barangay chairman Benedick Banega preoccupies himself with barangay affairs, while in a room nearby, barangay workers and volunteers are busy mounting some 600 tarpaulins on bamboo frames.

"Barangay elections are more expensive now," Banega says. "During my father's time, candidates used to just write their names on old sacks. And hardly anyone wanted to run. But now, with more funds and recover more autonomy given to barangays, it's become more a more lucrative profession."