MANILA, Philippines – The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has expressed full support for the House minority bloc’s proposal to let President Duterte replace outgoing barangay captains with his appointees, supposedly to cleanse drug-infiltrated villages.
The DILG also said postponing the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections, originally set on Oct. 31, would allow the administration to push through with infrastructure projects that would have to be suspended for three months before the polls.
“Appointments are better to replace those who are involved in drugs. There are really many,” DILG Secretary Ismael Sueno told the House committee on appropriations headed by Davao City Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles recently.
Based on data provided by the DILG and the Philippine National Police, (PNP) and which was also confirmed by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, 94 percent of the country’s 42,000 barangays were already infiltrated by illegal drugs.
Sueno underscored this when he defended the DILG’s P148.7-billion budget for 2017 in Congress.
Opposition lawmakers in the House have opposed their Senate counterparts’ proposal for the barangay chairmen, whose terms will end on Oct. 31, to stay in their posts in a holdover capacity, saying they should be replaced by officers-in-charge (OICs) to be appointed by Duterte.
“The Senate wants a holdover, but for us it should only be for those who are competent and qualified. The misfits should be replaced,” House Minority Leader Danilo Suarez told reporters in a news conference.
The congressman from Quezon said it was up to the Office of the President, in coordination with the DILG, to assess and review the qualifications of the nominees.
“We have to have an elbow room for this. Although of course, we can retain some who are good,” he said.
Buhay party-list Rep. Lito Atienza agreed. “There should be no extension (of terms). If we do that, then it’s as if we only rewarded even those who are not performing well or those who are not doing their jobs.”
Atienza pointed out this was the best time or opportunity for the government to cleanse the villages of drugs.
Another party-list congressman, lawyer Harry Roque of Kabayan, sees no problem with OICs. “It’s not unconstitutional because the barangay captains tenure is not among those mentioned in the 1987 Constitution,” he said.
Duterte backed the postponement of the barangay and SK polls, saying candidates might use drug money for their campaign.
Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, for his part, said holding the barangay and SK elections would tie the hands of government in carrying out projects because of the ban.
Sueno said it would be better if the administration is allowed to continue its anti-drug campaign and give PNP chief Director General Roland dela Rosa more time in going after the drug syndicates.
“The drug lords still have a lot of money. Let’s give General Bato one year to eliminate drugs. They (drug lords) can still fund candidates,” Sueno said.
In the same hearing, Sueno said the country could no longer afford more delays in implementing projects. – With Mayen Jaymalin
