With the start of the filing of certificates of candidacy on April 14, 2018, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) are on guard against third-termer barangay officials running for the same post which is prohibited by law.
DILG OIC-Secretary Eduardo M. Ano said that under the Local Government Code, “no local elective official shall serve for more than three consecutive terms in the same position. Voluntary renunciation of the office for any length of time shall not be considered as an interruption in the continuity of service for the full term for which the elective official concerned was elected.”
“The law is very clear regarding the prohibition of third termers to run for the same post. Do not file your candidacy if you will go beyond the third term, or consider running for another post. Better yet, let the others have their chance to become barangay leaders,” Ano said.
Based on the submission of the 17 DILG Regional Offices as collated by the DILG National Barangay Operations Office (NBOO), there are 8,927 third-termer incumbent punong barangays in the country and 51,273 third-termer sangguniang barangay members.
During a joint press conference with the Comelec and the National Youth Commission, DILG Assistant Secretary and Spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said that the Department has already submitted to Comelec the names of incumbent punong barangays and sangguniang barangay members serving their third consecutive terms in office in the same position.
“This initiative of the DILG to be on guard of third-termer barangay officials is in line with Department’s commitment of support to an honest and clean elections,” said Malaya.
The DILG submitted the list of names to Comelec for review and clearance for posting in the Comelec website so it can be referred to by its election officers nationwide.
Malaya assured that once approved by Comelec, the DILG will also post the list in the Department’s website.
Meanwhile, Comelec Spokesperson Director James Arthur Jimenez said that the public posting of the names is for the assessment and approval of the Comelec en banc.
“There are some measures that have to be sorted out first. This initiative is very welcome and we will see what we can do. The point is to give as much information to the voting public as possible. Katulong niyo kami para sa ikabubuti ng mga botante natin,” Jimenez said.
Region 6 (Western Visayas) has the most third-termer punong barangays numbering 1,030 followed by Region 4-A (CALABARZON) with 936 and then Region 8 (Eastern Visayas) with 823.
Moreover, Region 4-A has the most number of third-termer sangguniang barangay members at 5,367 followed by Region 6 with 5,345 and then Region 8 with 5,320.
The filing of certificates of candidacy for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections is on April 14 to 20, 2018. The election period is on April 14 to May 21 this year.
