Comelec admits no jurisdiction over barangays in signature campaigns

Commission on Elections Chairperson George Garcia speaks during a press briefing at the Comelec Central Office in Manila in this photo taken on November 30, 2023. INQUIRER.net file photo / NOY MORCOSO

MANILA, Philippines — Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Erwin Garcia said on Tuesday that the poll body has no jurisdiction over barangay officials when it comes to their participation in partisan political activities, including signature campaigns to amend the 1987 Constitution.

Garcia made the clarification after Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr., in a press conference on Monday, said that he had sought guidance from the Comelec regarding the involvement of village officials in the signature campaign for a people’s initiative.

“Wala po. DILG [Department of the Interior and Local Government] po [ang may jurisdiction],” Garcia told INQUIRER.net when asked if the poll body has authority over barangay officials’ participation in partisan political activities.

(There’s none. It’s the DILG [that has jurisdiction].)

READ: DILG to Comelec: Clarify barangay execs’ role in Cha-cha signature drive

Abalos, in the press conference, cited two separate documents from the commission that show opposing details on the prohibitions against village officials’ participation in partisan activities.

According to him, a Comelec en banc resolution dated April 8, 2022, exempts village officials from the prohibition under Section 261 of the Omnibus Election Code.

READ: Be careful with Cha-cha signature drive comments, DILG execs told

However, a Comelec Joint Circular from 2016 contradicts this exemption, he said.

This inconsistency prompted Abalos to write a letter to Garcia, seeking clarification on the specific role of barangay officials in partisan political activities.

Garcia said that the Comelec has yet to receive the letter from Abalos.