PACHICO A. SEARES:

It was one of those lengthy, rambling press-cons in Davao City in which Rodrigo Duterte, still awash with the glow of victory, gave the nation glimpses of what he’d do during his term. Duterte didn’t want the barangay elections, scheduled last Oct. 31, postponed. “I don’t like the idea of overstaying officials,” he said then. As president, though, he changed his mind and signed the bill into law putting off the 2016 October elections. Fast forward to Tuesday, March 14. Now he’d postpone the elections again but reported- ly with a catch: the mayor would appoint the barangay officials in his town or city.

It was one of those lengthy, rambling presscons in Davao City in which Rodrigo Duterte, still awash with the glow of victory, gave the nation glimpses of what he’d do during his term.

Duterte didn’t want the barangay elections, scheduled last Oct. 31 postponed. “I don’t like the idea of overstaying officials,” he said then.

As president though he changed his mind and signed the bill into law putting off the 2016 October elections.

The catch

Fast forward to Tuesday, March 14. Now he’d postpone the elections again but reportedly with a catch: the mayor would appoint the barangay officials in his town or city.

Look at Duterte’s reasons in 2016 and 2017: before he just “hated” overstaying officials; now he didn’t want them -- most of whom he said are drug protectors and drug-protected -- to win the elections and keep their seats.

Instead of just using that as campaign issue, they would declare all seats vacant and name OICs. More efficient.

Revolutionary gov’t.

Shades of the OICs that then president Cory Aquino appointed under her, note, 1986 revolutionary government.

I suppose Congress could pass a bill the president would sign, postponing again the barangay elections and authoring the mayors to appoint OICs. That would create permanent vacancies that would give mayors, under the Local Code, the power to appoint. And cutting off the “over-staying” officials wouldn’t trample any right.

Shutting them out

The protest could come later if, year after year, they would put off the election and pick leaders not elected by the people.

It would slowly but definitely erode the Constitution’s local government provision that (1) “territorial and political subdivisions of the Republic of the Philippines are the provinces, cities, municipalities and barangays,” and (2) the declaration of principles that says “the Philippines is a democratic state, sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them.”

People could vote for all their leaders except those in their own barangays?

“I am not in favor. The law says when you end there, you end there.” --Then president-elect Duterte, May 28, 2016