By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz and Joel R. San Juan
A LEADER of the House of Representatives has filed a bill postponing anew the October 2017 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections.
House Bill 5359, filed by Nacionalista Party Rep. Robert Barbers of Surigao del Norte, said deferment of barangay elections will curtail the country’s drug problem.
The bill seeks to reset the synchronized barangay and SK elections scheduled on the fourth Monday of October 2017, to the fourth Monday of May 2020.
“There is a need to postpone the 2017 barangay elections to rid barangays of officials linked to illegal-drugs operations. The barangay election was postponed last year for the very same reason, and obviously, we have yet to consider our communities drug-free. The drug problem begins at the grassroots level; therefore, this is where we should start cleansing,” Barbers said.
Barbers added that prior to the elections, incumbent officials must be terminated in order to give way to a set of “untainted” officers in charge the President himself will appoint.
Earlier, President Duterte said he wants the October 2017 barangay elections postponed because he does not want those financed by drug lords to win.
“Incumbent officials stand to enjoy an extended term, but fail to address the drug problem that our President has been seeking to exterminate since Day 1. We have given them another year, but the question is, have they proven themselves worthy to be called ‘leaders’ of a country that is dying to be freed from the shackles of illegal drugs? I don’t think so. That is why, I personally think that the smartest move would be to delay the elections once again and to appoint incorruptible officers in charge who will help us traverse the road to recovery—the road to a drug-free Philippines,” Barbers said.
Meanwhile, Democracy Watch Philippines, a citizen-led organization, on Monday expressed opposition to the plan of Duterte to declare barangay positions vacant and, instead, appoint barangay officials as part of the effort of the government to address the country’s problem on illegal drugs.
In an interview, Democracy Watch Philippines Secretary-General Claudette Guevara said Duterte’s plan “goes against the basic tenets of democracy”, such as the right of the people to freely choose their leaders.
Guevarra said scrapping the barangay elections would make barangay officials accountable to the appointing power instead of their constituents.
“It will put into question the principle of accountability,” Guevara said, adding it would be impractical for Duterte alone to appoint all 336,810 barangay officials throughout the country.
“Barangay governance will be at a standstill when all seats will be declared vacant as the processing of the appointment of more than 300,000 individuals will take a considerable amount of time,” Guevara said.
Last week Duterte said he wants the barangay elections postponed again. It was originally scheduled on October 31, 2016. Duterte said he will not allow drug-tainted personalities to be elected as barangay officials.
Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal said appointing, instead of electing, barangay officials would violate the provisions of the 1987 Constitution. He said no less than the 1987 Constitution recognizes barangay executives as being “elective local officials”, meaning they must be elected.
“Any law or executive order declaring as ‘vacant’ all existing elective barangay positions and to appoint their replacements is unconstitutional,” Macalintal said.
Section 8, Article X of the 1987 Constitution states barangay leaders are recognized as “elective local officials” like regional, provincial, city, and municipal elected officials.
“If barangay officials could be appointed and their positions be declared vacant by a mere order of the president, then the same could be applied to governors, mayors, and councilors as they belong to the same category of being ‘local elective officials’. What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, so to speak,” Macalintal added.
Currently, there are 42,095 barangays headed by 42,095 barangay chairpersons and 294,715 barangay kagawad.