Lawmaker wants barangay poll in 2014

Sunday, February 5, 2012

CEBU CITY -- Representative Rachel del Mar has filed House Bill 5750, which seeks to postpone the barangay elections from October 2013 to October 2014.

The reason isn’t so much to extend the current officials’ terms by one year, but to keep the government from spending for two elections in one year, like what happened in 2010.

Have something to report? Tell us in text, photos or videos.

“That there shall be not more than one nationwide election in a year is the better rule, which speaks for itself and needs no further explanation,” read the explanatory note from del Mar, representative of Cebu City’s north district.

Representative Eduardo Gullas (Cebu Province, 1st district) said he has also observed that a three-year term is too short for barangay and other elective officials, although he stopped short of endorsing del Mar’s bill.

Timing

“Please allow me to read the bill before I will make my formal comment. But I’m sure the same reasoning can also be used to extend the terms of the mayors and governors,” Gullas said in a recent interview.

The synchronized barangay and Youth Council elections are scheduled on the last Monday of October 2013, three years after the last elections.
But there will also be local and congressional elections in May 2013.

Del Mar’s bill seeks an amendment of Republic Act 9164, so that the barangay elections will be held on the last Monday of October 2014 instead.

The election can then be held every three years thereafter, she also proposed.

There are also suggestions for the barangay elections to be synchronized with the May 2013 elections, but del Mar said this is not feasible since there will be too many names and positions the voter must decide on.

Doing that will also shorten the terms of barangay and Youth Council officials by five months.

SupportM

This proposal got the nod of the Association of Barangay Councils (ABC), with President Michael Ralota, an ex-officio city councilor, noting that the barangay officials’ terms are too short to finish their projects.

A copy of del Mar’s bill was received by the House of Representatives last January 30.

The same proposal also got the nod of the ABC representative in the Provincial Board, Provincial Federation President Jose Ribomapil Holganza Jr.

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama is against the proposal, saying the people should be given a chance to exercise their right to suffrage at the appropriate time. An election would mean a fresh mandate for good officials and a chance to replace bad officials, he said.

The mayor’s critic, Representative Tomas Osmeña (Cebu City, south district), believes that Rama opposes the extension of the terms of barangay officials because barangay officials don’t support the mayor.

Gullas said that in most cases in the entire country, local officials start positioning one-and-a-half years before the next election.

“I think if there will be a constituent assembly, one proposal will be for the terms of all local officials in the provinces, cities and municipalities to be extended from three to four years,” Gullas said.

However, while there are attempts at the House of Representatives to amend the Constitution, especially its economic provisions, President Benigno Aquino III has announced late last year that it is not his priority.

Before Martial Law was declared by former President Ferdinand E. Marcos in 1972, all elective officials from the President down to the last municipal councilor had a four-year term.

The President, Vice President and senators could run for the position twice, or serve a total of eight years, but there was no term limit for local officials and congressional representatives.

However, Gullas pointed out, the terms of office were changed under the 1987 Constitution -- giving the President and Vice President a six-year term with no reelection, while local officials got a three-year term, for a maximum of three straight terms. (EOB/JGA/Sun.Star Cebu)