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BY MAE SINGUAY
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Saturday, April 8, 2017
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BACOLOD City – Rep. Greg Gasataya wants to clarify details in a bill seeking to postpone the October 2017 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections.
House Bill No. 5359, authored by Rep. Robert Ace Barbers (Surigao del Norte, 2nd District), aims to end the terms of all barangay officials and grant President Rodrigo Duterte the power to appoint an officer-in-charge (OIC) per village.
Under the bill, all sitting barangay officials are terminated effective the last Monday of October and the President will have to appoint OICs in all villages across the country, Gasataya said yesterday.
Gasataya said he will further study the bill. He finds it too “general.”
House Bill No. 5359 also “prescribes additional rules” for the barangay and SK elections.
It was not stated in the measure whether or not kagawads (councilmen) will be appointed as well, Gasataya said.
The bill also does not indicate the length of the term of the appointed OIC and the requirements and qualifications for appointment, he said.
“What is the role of the local chief executives and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)?” said Gasataya.
House Bill No. 5359 mandates the Commission on Elections to “promulgate such rules and regulations necessary to implement this Act” if the measure gets passed.
Discussions and debates will start once an appropriate House of Representatives committee accepts the bill, Gasataya said.
Duterte wants the barangay election this year postponed indefinitely. Candidates supported by drug lords might win, he said.
Gasataya already expressed apprehension on Duterte’s plan to replace sitting barangay officials with his appointees.
The DILG should lead the selection of people to be appointed to barangay positions, the congressman said in March. Mayors cannot be given such authority. They could use it for politicking, he said.
The House of Representatives must also formulate and discuss guidelines in appointing barangay officials, Gasataya said.
Also last month, then Interior secretary Ismael Sueno said removing village officials and replacing them with appointees is not illegal.
“The barangay officials’ terms already ended (October last year), so their posts can be declared vacant,” Sueno said.
Under the President’s plan, persons not involved in illegal drugs will be appointed in barangay councils, he said.
But DILG undersecretary Jesus Hinlo Jr. said postponing the barangay election needs a law.
“What is required is an enabling law. The President does not have the power to just suspend the elections unless both the House of Representatives and Senate approve it,” Hinlo said./PN
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