AGUSAN del Norte 2nd District Representative Dale B. Corvera filed House Bill No. 9557 fixing the term of office of barangay and SK officials to 5 years with a term limit of two (2) consecutive terms, to discourage the recurring practice of postponing their election and to allow them to exercise their mandate with less pressure on the frequency of election.
He said that Section 8, Article X of the 1987 Constitution provides the term of office of elected officials to 3 years EXCEPT Barangay Officials which will be determined by law but shall not go beyond 3 consecutive terms.
The Local Government Code of 1991 fixed their term of office at 3 years with a term limit of 3 consecutive terms. This was virtually amended by several laws postponing the barangay and SK elections and extending the tenure of barangay and SK officials as a consequence of the postponement of the barangay and SK elections, but notably no law has been passed to change the 3-year term and 3 consecutive term limit fixed by the Local Government Code.
The last postponement of the barangay and SK elections was through Republic Act No. 11935, which the Supreme Court ruled as unconstitutional, paving the way for the October 30, 2023 barangay and SK elections to push through.
“The adjustment of the term of office from 3 to 5 years will hopefully concretize ‘genuine periodic elections’ for barangay and SK officials as well as minimize election expenses which our country incur due to frequent elections.”, Corvera stressed.
“The job of barangay officials has lately become complex considering that they are at the forefront of public service and that the DILG, DSWD and many other agencies have made so many innovations on their programs which the barangays are mandated to implement at the grassroots level. In the current 3-year term, the 1st year of a newly-elected barangay official is some sort of an orientation for him of his new job. The second year will serve as his preparation for his re-election on the following year which will render him short of what is expected of him as a barangay official. The 3-year term of the barangay and SK officials is very short for deserving officials. They should be given enough time to be able to finish their priority projects or programs for the barangay and prove themselves worthy to the office to which they were elected”, he added.
