Cagayan de Oro City 2nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez. (Photo courtesy of Rep. Rodriguez FB Page)
MANILA – Cagayan De Oro City 2nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez is pushing for a bill that seeks to lengthen the term of office of barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) or youth council officers to five years in order to avoid divisiveness and ensure stability in the barangays.
In a press statement Friday, Rodriguez, who chairs the House Committee on Constitutional amendments, said the additional term “would ensure more stability in the barangay level and ensure that the programs initiated by the current leaders would come to fruition.”
Rodriguez’s measure, House Bill (HB) 7123, aims to amend Section 43 of the Local Government Code, under which, barangay and SK officials enjoy a tenure of three years and a three consecutive term limit.
While the bill extends the tenure from three years to five years, it maintains the three consecutive term limit, thus, a winning barangay or SK official can have a maximum of 15 consecutive years in office if he wins elections three times in a row.
Under the HB 7123, the proposed longer stay in office would take effect in the first barangay and SK elections after the enactment of the proposed amendatory law.
In proposing a longer tenure, Rodriguez said the three-year term “is too short a time for the unity and stability in barangay leadership and affairs.”
“It is not enough to ensure that the programs of the barangay are carried out properly, especially considering the fact… that the last year of the term is basically used for campaigning,” he noted.
Rodriguez, a veteran lawmaker and a former college of law dean and professor, added that less frequent elections would lessen discord among the population.
“It is common knowledge that elections, whether national, local or barangay, prove to be divisive among the populace. Candidates and their supporters try to destroy their opponents by using any means necessary just to be able to secure victory,” he stressed.
Furthermore, the Commission on Elections (Comelec), he noted, has investigated numerous complaints about alleged irregularities in the last barangay and SK polls five years ago and is only just about to come out with its report.
The report from Comelec would indicate “who would be held liable for the late delivery of ballots and elections returns, which caused the delay in the conduct of elections in several polling centers nationwide.”
The solon added that there are also many election documents which were left behind by the shipping companies tapped by the poll body because of packaging delays at the National Printing Office (NPO) in Quezon City.
“Such complaints are proof of the divisiveness and problems encountered during elections,” Rodriguez said. (PNA)
