De Lima warns against postponement of barangay elections

Giving President Rodrigo Duterte the power to remove barangay officials and appoint officers-in-charge in their place would result in an administrative nightmare and corruption, Sen. Leila de Lima warned on Wednesday.

De Lima, the detained chair of the Senate committee on electoral reforms, conveyed in a letter her opposition to the panel’s report postponing the barangay elections to October 2018 and empowering the President to appoint OICs to barangay posts.

The report was authored by committee vice chair Sen. Richard Gordon and Senate Majority Leader Sen. Vicente Sotto III.

De Lima urged her colleagues to either vote for the holding of the barangay elections as scheduled, except in Mindanao, or postpone the exercise to May 2018, with incumbent officials remaining in office in a holdover capacity.

Gordon handled the public hearings on the postponement of the village polls.

In a statement from Camp Crame, De Lima pushed for the holding of the elections this year so that people could replace barangay officials suspected of involvement in the illegal drug trade.

The senator claimed to have received reports that some applicants for OIC posts were ready to offer money in exchange for an appointment.

“Unregulated power to remove barangay officials and appoint officers-in-charge will result in an administrative nightmare at best and corruption at worst,” she added.