"“What is the basis for saying that 40 percent of the officials are connected to drugs? It does not make sense. And even assuming that some are, can’t we trust the Filipino people to vote for those who they believe will be the right candidates for them? We are a free people and we must be free to elect our own leaders...If this administration is so convinced that these barangay officials are into drugs, then file the appropriate cases. That is certainly more efficient than vetting over 200,000 people who will fill the barangay posts. Doing so will not address the problem, if there really is one as serious as the administration makes it out to be...If Duterte was so convinced of the prevalence of illegal drugs and the connection of these officials to the illicit trade, then it should not be a problem for his government, with all the resources at its disposal, to file the appropriate cases...Doing away with a vital political exercise would put the Duterte administration even closer to a dictatorship, considering that he already has some control over the two chambers of Congress...”
