PNoy: Vote SK, brgy. leaders who will follow ‘straight path’

Choose leaders who will follow the “straight path" and support the reforms that the administration is advancing. This was the advice of President Benigno Aquino III to some 50 million Filipino voters on the eve of Monday’s synchronized barangay (village) and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK or youth council) polls. “Inaanyayahan ko po ang lahat na makilahok sa darating na Barangay Elections. Isa itong mahalagang pagkakataon upang mapalakas natin ang ating mga barangay, ang sangay ng pamahalaan na unang nakakapagbigay-serbisyo sa ating mga mamamayan. Gaya ng ating naging tagumpay noong nakaraang halalan, naniniwala akong muli nating maisusulong nang payapa at maayos ang halalang ito," he said in a statement posted on the Official Gazette. (I enjoin all of you to participate in the upcoming Barangay elections. This is an important opportunity to strengthen our barangays, the government branch that is first to give services to our citizens. Like our victory in the previous national elections, I believe we will again be able to advance this election in a peaceful and orderly way.)

“Nawa’y sa inyong pagpapasya at pakikiisa, maihalal natin ang may paninindigang makiisa sa ating pagtahak ng tuwid na landas. Inaasahan ko rin ang inyong pakikiisa para sa isang halalang malaya sa karahasan at pandaraya," he added. (With your discernment and unity, we will be able to elect those who have the commitment to trudge the straight path. I am banking on your unity toward an election that is free from violence and fraud.) President Aquino’s ascent to power has been attributed in part to his anti-corruption campaign slogans and his calls for a shift to the “straight path" — a call that caught the fancy of thousands of Filipino voters who were hungry for change. Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said Aquino will lead voters on Monday by casting his vote at precinct 175-A of the Central Azucarera Elementary School in San Miguel in Tarlac. Just as he did in the 2010 presidential elections, the President will line up and wait for his turn, Valte said. Aquino is expected to vote in the morning and return to Malacañang right after voting for a Cabinet meeting scheduled in the afternoon, she reported. - DM/KBK, GMANews.TV