Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Constitution Hills, Quezon City

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NINETEENTH CONGRESS
Second Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. _9557

Introduced by 2™ District of Agusan del Norte Representative
HON. DALE B. CORVERA

AN ACT
CHANGING THE TERM OF OFFICE OF BARANGAY AND
SANGGUNIANG KABATAAN OFFICIALS FROM THREE (3) TO FIVE (5)
YEARS AND THEIR TERM OF OFFICE WHICH SHALL NOT GO BEYOND
TWO (2) CONSECUTIVE TERMS, AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE
REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9164, AS AMENDED, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Article X, Section 8 of the 1987 Constitution provides that the term of office of elective
local officials, except barangay officials, which shall be determined by iaw, shall be three
years and no such official shall serve for more than three consecutive terms. Voluntary
renunciation of the office for any length of time shall not be considered as an interruption in
the continuity of his service for the full term for which he was elected.

Further, Section 3 under the same Article mandates Congress to enact a local
government code which shall provide for a more responsive and accountable local government
structure instituted through a system of decentralization with effective mechanisms of recall,
initiative, and referendum, allocate among the different local government units their powers,
responsibilities, and resources, and provide for the qualifications, election, appointment and
removal, term, salaries, powers and functions and duties of local officials, and all other matters
relating to the organization and operation of the local units.

‘To fulfill the constitutional mandate, Republic Act No. 7160, otherwise known as the
Local Government Code of 1991 (LGC), was enacted on 10 October 1991. Under Section 43
(©) of the LGC, the term of office of barangay officials and members of the sangguniang
kabataan was fixed to three (3) years. However, the three-year term of office for barangay and
sangguniang kabataan (BSK) officials seems too short for various reasons.

‘As BSK positions are considered as “entry point” or “training grounds” for a political
career, in the current three-year term for BSK officials the first year of neophyte BSK officials
is some sort of an orientation for them of their new job. Rubbing salt in the wound, the job of
BSK officials, who are at the forefront of public service in their respective jurisdiction, has
lately became more complex with the advent of program innovations and corresponding
changes in the policy and compliance requirements of various executive national government

DATE November 15, 2023 Py


agencies, which the barangays are mandated to deliver as partner-implementors at the
grassroots level. The second year will serve as the BSK officials’ preparation for their re-
election on the following year which will render them short of what is expected of them as
BSK officials. The three-year term of BSK officials is very short for the deserving officials.
Therefore, they should be given enough time to be able to finish their priority projects or
programs for the barangay and prove themselves worthy of the trust vested on them.

Also, in some years when two elections (national and local) are held in the same year,
the government spends billions of pesos to pay the enormous cost of democracy and survive
the logistical nightmares involved in preparing for the two elections.

Lengthening the term of office of BSK officials will allow them to be more focused in
serving their constituents and to build stronger relationships with their stakeholders. Albeit
nominal, longer term of BSK officials will produce savings brought about by reduced costs
attributable to less frequent conduct of orientation and training for neophyte BSK officials.
These savings in tum can be utilized for meaningful programs for the less privileged.

Notably, amendatory laws (Republic Act Nos. 9164, 9340, 10632, 10656, 10923,
10952, 11462) to the LGC were enacted to postpone the BSK elections, all of which provide
that the term of office of BSK officials shall only be for three (3) years. This practice, however,
runs contrary to the principle of genuine periodic elections characteristic of democratic
countries such as the Philippines, and is protected by various international instruments such as
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights (ICCPR), both of which are binding on the Philippines through the doctrine
of incorporation and its ratification, respectively.

Changing the term of office of Barangay Chairpersons from three (3) to five (5) years
will minimize, if not totally avoid, the enactment of laws postponing BSK elections and
guaranty the country’s performance in good faith of its obligations under the UDHR and
ICCPR.

Likewise, the five-year term of office for Barangay Chairpersons will ensure that at any
given time, local government units have incumbent officials who can readily and verily able to
perform their tasks and ensure the unhampered delivery of services tothe pepple.



Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Constitution Hills, Quezon City

NINETEENTH CONGRESS
Second Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. _9557.

Introduced by 2™ District of Agusan del Norte Representative
HON. DALE B. CORVERA

AN ACT
CHANGING THE TERM OF OFFICE OF BARANGAY AND
SANGGUNIANG KABATAAN OFFICIALS FROM THREE (3) TO FIVE (5)
YEARS AND THEIR TERM OF OFFICE WHICH SHALL NOT GO BEYOND
TWO (2) CONSECUTIVE TERMS, AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE
REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9164, AS AMENDED, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled:

Section 1. Section 1 of Republic Act No. 9164, as amended, is hereby amended to read
as follows:
“Section 1. Date of Election. — There shall be synchronized barangay and
sangguniang Kabataan elections, which shall be held on July 15, 2002.
Subsequent synchronized barangay and sangguniang kabataan elections shall
be held on the last Monday of October 2007 and every three (3) years thereafter:
Provided, That the barangay and sangguniang kabataan elections on the second
Monday of May 2020 shall be postponed to December 5, 2022. Subsequent
synchronized barangay and sangguniang kabataan elections shall be held on the
first Monday of December 2025 and every three-(3) FIVE (5) years thereafter.”

Section 2. Section 2 of Republic Act No. 9164, as amended, is hereby amended to read
as follows:

“Sec. 2. Term of Office. ~ The term of office of all barangay and sangguniang

kabataan officials after-the effeetivity-of this-Aet shall be ¢hree-(3) FIVE (5)

years.


No barangay elective official shall serve for more than three-3) TWO (2)
consecutive terms in the same position: Provided, however, That the term of
office shall be reckoned from the 4994 2025 SYNCHRONIZED barangay
AND SANGGUNIANG KABATAAN elections. Voluntary renunciation of
office for any length of time shall not be considered as an interruption in the
continuity of service for the full term for which the elective official was

elected."

Section 3. Hold-Over. — All incumbent barangay and sangguniang kabataan officials
shall remain in office until their successors shall have been elected, qualified and assumed
office, unless sooner removed or suspended for cause; Provided, That barangay and
sangguniang Kabataan officials who are ex-officio members of the sangguniang bayan,
sangguniang panlungsod, or sangguniang panlalawigan, as the case may be, shall continue to
serve as such members in the Sangguniang concerned until their successors shall have assumed
office.

Section 4. Appropriations. — The amount necessary for the implementation of this Act
shall be taken from the appropriations of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) under the
General Appropriations Act and/or supplementary appropriations thereafter.

Section 5. Repealing Clause. ~ All laws, presidential decrees, issuances, executive
orders, letiers of instruction, rules, and regulations inconsistent with the provisions of this Act

are hereby amended, repealed or modified accordingly.
Section 6. Separability Clause. If, for any reason, any section, clause or term of this
Act is held to be illegal, invalid, or unconstitutional, such parts not affected by such declaration

shall remain in full force and effect.

Section 7. Effectivity Clause. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its

publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,