Duterte can’t abolish brgy. positions: ABC

ABC official says move needs Constitutional amendments

Pimentel supports abolition of SK

ASSOCIATION of Barangay Councils (ABC) President Phillip Zafra yesterday said he doesn’t think the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte can abolish all positions in the barangay without violating the law.

Zafra commented on the statement of House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez that they are demolishing all positions of barangay councilors or barangay kagawads because they are not working.

“They have to amend the Local Government Code and the Constitution first,” Zafra said.

He said that if the administration is planning not to let them hold the position in a holdover capacity after October 2016 and then just appoint a caretaker of their office, then the next question is what will be the basis?

Frustrated

“Maybe it can be done after the change of the Constitution,” Zafra said.

Former Senate president Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr., author of the Local Government Code, said that he supposed Alvarez was frustrated by some barangay kagawads’ failure to do their jobs well.

“There are ways of sanctioning the officials concerned without abolishing their offices. They can be sued administratively, civilly or criminally. Hence, the resolution is not to abolish the barangay councils,” Pimentel said.

Officials

Pimentel said abolishing the barangay councils would reconcentrate barangay powers in the hands of the municipal and city officials.

“Then, you’d nullify the thrust of the Local Government Code, which is, among other things, to empower the officials closest to their people in the barangay to their thing in the development of their communities,” Pimentel said.

SK

On the other hand, Pimentel is supporting the idea of abolishing the Sanguniang Kabataan (SK).

“But the youths are entitled to representation in the municipal and city sanguanian. Hence, I suggest that even if we abolish the SK as such, we should elect one representative of the youth with the members of the sangunian of a municipal or city concerned,” Pimentel said.