Duterte’s allies push plan to postpone barangay polls
MALACAÑANG on Monday backed President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s plan to postpone this year’s barangay elections and fill the soon-to-be vacant barangay positions, saying this has basis in law and with the complement of a congressional amendment.
Meanwhile, Mr. Duterte’s top allies in Congress and the Executive have also pushed for the planned postponement of the barangay polls, despite reservations to the contrary by allies in the Senate seen to be more independent-minded.
In a statement on Monday, Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto C. Abella said: “Moving the schedule of the barangay elections, which is scheduled October this year, needs an amendment of the law. Without this new law, barangay elections will push thru.”
He added: “The passage of a new law postponing the barangay elections will make all barangay positions vacant. Therefore, according to the Administrative Code of the Philippines, it is within the powers of the President to fill up declared vacant positions.”
Mr. Duterte has cited “narcopolitics” as the basis for his call to postpone the elections.
An administration ally, Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace S. Barbers (2nd district), on Monday filed House Bill (HB) 5359 seeking to reset the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections from the fourth Monday of October this year to the fourth Monday of May 2020 and allowing the President to appoint village chiefs.
Also under the bill, the subsequent barangay and SK polls will be held on the second Monday of May 2023 and every three years thereafter.
The bill also states that all incumbent barangay officials will be deemed terminated upon the enactment of the proposed law and officers- incharge (OICs) will be appointed by the President.
The Commission on Elections is likewise mandated under the bill to promulgate its implementing rules and regulations within 90 days after its effectivity into law.
Mr. Barbers said in the bill’s explanatory note that “[ b]arangays are our first line of defense in the grassroots level. As such they must spearhead the government’s fight against illegal drugs and must maintain (a) proactive stand in shielding the ordinary people from the drug menace.”
The note also read in part: “However, how will the barangay lead this war if some officials are patrons and protectors of drug lords?”
AMENDMENT NEEDED
House Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez, for his part, said Republic Act 10923, or the law signed by the President in October 2016, which postponed the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections that year, could be used as template for the new law with an additional provision stating the appointment of officers-in-charge.
“Dadagdagan na lang po kung sino ang mag- a- appoint ( We’ll just add who will appoint),” Mr. Alvarez said in a radio interview when asked if the House of Representatives will just pass a law postponing the polls, similar to what it did in 2016.
Like Mr. Abella, Mr. Alvarez also noted the need to amend the Local Government Code to allow the appointment of new barangay officials.
The Speaker added that he had already asked his staff to make a draft measure. He said there is enough time to pass the new law, deemed a priority measure.
The House leader said he was supporting the plan of the President to postpone the elections this October to pave the way for the appointment of village chiefs who could help the administration curb illegal drugs.
Earlier, Mr. Duterte said that 40% of the barangay captains nationwide were involved in illegal drugs.
‘ENABLING LAW’
Justice Secretary Vitaliano N. Aguirre II also on Monday said there is “[n] othing unconstitutional” with Mr. Duterte’s plan to postpone the barangay elections.
“But an enabling law may be needed to cancel and appoint (officers-incharge),” Mr. Aguirre also said in a text message to reporters. —
report by interaksyon.com
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