Duterte’s barangay plan part of ‘gripping authoritarianism’—bishop

Novaliches Bishop Emeritus Teodoro Bacani sees a creeping dictatorship with the plan of President Rodrigo Duterte to appoint the officials of 42,000 barangays in the country. INQUIRER FILE

A retired Catholic bishop on Wednesday slammed the plan of President Rodrigo Duterte to appoint about 42,000 village chiefs and scrap altogether the barangay elections slated in October.

Novaliches Bishop Emeritus Teodoro Bacani, member of the 1986 constitutional commission that drafted the 1987 Charter, warned that the administration’s plan would lead to a creeping dictatorship.

“Nagiging authoritarian na tayo, dahan-dahan ‘yan, ‘yan ang gripping authoritarianism, dinadahan-dahan ang mga mamamayan. Mapapansin mo ‘yan ang mga tao dahan-dahang itinutulak, at ang mga tao kung basta-bastang papayag nalang, bandang huli ay diktador ang lilitaw sa ating presidente,” Bacani said over church-run Radyo Veritas.

READ: Appointing barangay execs unconstitutional — election expert | Fariñas: Duterte can appoint barangay execs

The administration is seeking to postpone barangay elections, claiming that 40 percent of officials in the country’s 42,028 barangays are either corrupt or into illegal drugs. The government wants to appoint around 340,000 barangay chairs and council members instead of pushing through with the elections.

But the Local Government Code of 1991, or Republic Act No. 7160, mandates that elections be held for the chairs and councilors of barangays.

House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez earlier said the Local Government Code has to be amended, while Interior Secretary Ismael Sueno said he was meeting with Congress leaders for them to pass a law that would postpone the barangay polls.

Bacani noted that barangay elections were the roots of what he called “elementary democracy” where citizens can practice their right and freedom to vote for their chosen leaders.

“Hindi puwedeng i-appoint yan, hindi yan ang batas. Yan ang pinaka elementary democracy natin, yung sa Barangay, diyan unang magagamit ang ating pagpili ng mga mamumuno sa ating bayan. Kaya yan ay itinakda ng batas para ang mga tao ang mamili hindi ang presidente,” Bacani added.

Republic Act 10923 deferred the barangay elections from October 2016 to October this year and extended the tenure of barangay officials in a holdover capacity. CBB