SENATORS Paolo Benigno Aquino IV and Juan Miguel Zubiri have expressed reservations on the move to replace barangay officials with appointees if the village elections will not push through in October.
The two officials, who were in Bacolod City Thursday for various engagements, believed that the proposed measure needs to be thoroughly studied as it intends to change the Constitution.
President Rodrigo Duterte is pushing for an appointment of barangay officials, rather than holding village elections in October.
The President said 40 percent of the incumbent barangay officials are involved in illegal drugs, and might take advantage of the resumption of barangay polls in October this year.
Duterte signed on October 18, 2016, a law postponing the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections supposedly set on October 31 the same year.
However, Aquino said that any move to change the Local Government Code or go beyond the Constitution, hindi kami papayag ng basta-basta (we will not give in easily).”
“It has to go through proper process in the Senate and the Congress,” he stressed.
He said: “Right now, there is no law that lets you appoint barangay officials. Some scholars say it’s unconstitutional. Even a law might not be enough because in our Constitution, barangay officials should be elected.”
He said he could not understand why the administration is pushing for the appointment of barangay officials since it is advocating a federal form of government.
“Appointing barangay officials is like reverse federalism. I can’t understand. For an administration pushing for federalism, which is devolving all the powers to the local and there’s a move to appoint from the central (government), it’s like (a) reverse (of) federalism,” Aquino pointed out.
Asked if he thinks the administration wants to strengthen its foothold in the grassroots level, the senator said that any government will want to have a stronger support from the local level but “that might not be the best way to do it.”
Aquino emphasized it’s the basic right of the Filipinos to elect their leaders. “I think we need to allow the people to decide for themselves if who they want to rule them,” he said.
Moreover, he said that the drug list which linked barangay officials in the illegal drug trade should be verified.
He said they can’t make policies on unverified information.
Zubiri, for his part, said he doesn’t mind if the village polls will be reset, “it’s the appointment that is difficult.”
“I would rather relax the procedure under the Local Government Code by removing the erring barangay officials who have drug cases. If they have drug cases in the court, the DILG (Department of the Interior and Local Government) can automatically remove the barangay official in question,” he explained.
He pointed out that the administration has difficulty in appointing the remaining 10,000 positions in the government, how much more the 42,000 barangay posts?
Zubiri said it’s difficult as it may paralyze the function of the barangays, like the daycare centers and health centers.
The senator said the salaries of the daycare workers, bantay bayan and health workers will not be released if there’s no barangay official who will sign the budget.
It is something that needs to be thoroughly discussed, he added.
Earlier, Interior Secretary Ismael Sueno said there will be no holdover capacity for incumbent barangay officials if the polls will be rescheduled.
He added that appointment of village leaders will be done in coordination with local officials and various sectors and groups.