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Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
TWENTIETH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session  
House Bill No. _______ 
Introduced by Representative Richard I. Gomez, DPA 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
In the recent elections of May 2025, the campaign period was fraught with various  
contentious activities such as the partisan active participation of barangay captains and temporary 
contract workers or “job order (JO)” workers.  
In such situations, incumbent candidates enjoyed undue advantages during the campaign 
process. Candidates who were supported by incumbent barangay captains benefited from localized 
campaign leaders who held the power to use barangay resources. On the other hand, candidates 
who held local chief executive positions had access to a significant range of manpower by taking 
advantage of JO workers, to carry out campaign human resource needs.  
Such situations give unfair advantage to some candidates, and hence, become impediments 
to the conduct of clean and fair elections. This bill proposes amendments to the Batas Pambansa 
Blg. 881 or the Omnibus Election Code, to include in the list of acts considered as election offenses 
(Section 261) – the participation of barangay captains and JOs in partisan political activity. The 
exception to this would be if the barangay captain is the candidate himself. 
In view of the foregoing, the swift passage of this bill is respectfully sought. 
RICHARD I. GOMEZ, DPA
August 26, 2025
4:17 pm
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Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
TWENTIETH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session  
House Bill No. ________ 
Introduced by Representative Richard I. Gomez, DPA 
AN ACT PROHIBITING THE PARTICIPATION OF INCUMBENT BARANGAY 
CAPTAINS IN ELECTION CAMPAIGNS OTHER THAN THEIR OWN, AND 
TEMPORARY GOVERNMENT WORKERS, AMENDING BATAS PAMBANSA BLG. 
881, OR THE OMNIBUS ELECTION CODE SEC. 261 
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress 
assembled: 
SECTION 1. Article XXII- Election Offenses, Section 261 of Batas Pambansa Blg. 881or 
the Omnibus Election Code, is hereby amended to read as follows: 
“SEC. 261. Prohibited Acts.- The following shall be guilty of an election offense: 
XXX; 
(i) Intervention of public officers and employees. – Any officer or employee in the
civil service, except those holding political offices OTHER THAN BARANGAY 
CAPTAINS; ANY TEMPORARY GOVERNMENT WORKER any officer, employee, 
or member or the Armed Forces of the Philippines, or any police force, special forces, home 
defense forces, barangay self-defense units and all other para-military units that now exist 
or which may hereafter be organized who, directly or indirectly, intervenes in any election 
campaign or engages in any partisan political activity, except to vote or to preserve public 
order, if he is a peace officer; 
X X X.” 
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SEC. 2. Repealing Clause. – Any law, decree, ordinance, or rules and regulations not 
consistent with any provision of this Act is hereby amended, repealed or modified accordingly. 
 
SEC. 3. Effectivity. – This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its complete 
publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.  
Approved,