Isabela 6th District Rep. Inno Dy on Tuesday vowed to spend his first year in office pushing for the passage of a measure rescheduling the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) polls from May 2020 to May 2023, stressing the need for barangay executives to serve full five-year terms to better serve their constituents and to ensure uninterrupted government frontline services.
Dy said he filed on Monday House Bill No. 47, “An Act Postponing the May 2020 Barangay and SK Elections,” which moves the synchronized barangay and SK polls scheduled on the second Monday of May 2020 to the second Monday of May 2023. This would essentially give the current officials who were voted last 2018 a full five-year term. The succeeding elections shall be conducted every five years thereafter.
“If we hold the next election for these public servants in May next year, that only gives them woefully short, inadequate two-year terms.”
The bill, if passed, will affect just over 670,000 barangay and SK officials belonging to the country’s 41,948 barangays.
According to Dy, who recently served as National President of the Liga ng mga Barangay, “this bill is consistent with the call of members of the Liga ng mga Barangay (LNB) to be granted a fixed term that will give them enough time to implement and promote long-term programs and advocacies without interruption and political interference.”
“The most recent Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections were conducted in May last year. If we hold the next election for these public servants in May next year, that only gives them woefully short, inadequate two-year terms,” lamented Dy.
“If we push through with the barangay elections next year, that will mark the third straight year voters will troop to the polls.”
“As a former barangay official, I know firsthand that given the functions and duties barangay execs are expected to fulfill, the current term of office set by law is too short for them to implement meaningful and sustainable developmental programs at the grassroots level,” stressed the 26 year-old, the youngest male legislator in the House of Representatives.
The solon, who holds a Master of Social Sciences-Political Economy Degree from the University of Sydney and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration — International Business from Hawaii Pacific University, added that the country also needs a much-needed break from politics.
“If we push through with the barangay elections next year, that will mark the third straight year voters will troop to the polls. That’s four elections in a span of five years, from 2016 to 2020. Let’s give our people, let’s give our teachers, a much-deserved break,” said the solon.
“Tama na muna ang pulitika, trabaho muna. Our barangay officials just want to work.”
Congress has the power to determine both the term of office and term limitations of barangay officials. In COMELEC v. Cruz, the High Court declared that Congress is authorized under the Constitution to determine by legislation not only the duration of the term of barangay officials, but also whether the application of term limits applies to them.