Barangay officials should not meddle with Cha-cha signature campaign—Comelec's Garcia

Commision on Elections (Comelec) chairperson George Garcia on Wednesday said barangay officials should not meddle in the signature campaign on people’s initiative for Charter change (Cha-cha).

“Para sa akin bilang pinuno ng Komisyon (For me as the head of the Commission), I will not allow the barangay officials to interfere or intervene with people's initiative,” he said in the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum.

Once the petition is filed by Cha-cha proponents, Garcia said the Comelec will verify if the signers really understood its provisions and voluntarily inked the forms.

“Hindi pinressure ni kapitan, ng mga kagawad, or whatever (They were not pressured by the barangay captain, councilors, or whoever),” Garcia said.

The poll body head pointed out that barangay officials are still linked to political parties even outside the election period.

However, Garcia said it would be better if this warning would come from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), considering it has the jurisdiction over barangay governments.

He made the statement amid instances of supposed signature buying, which were allegedly done alongside the distribution of government aid and gifts.

Earlier, DILG Undersecretary Felicito Valmocina warned barangay officials against seeking signatures for the people’s initiative.

DILG Secretary Benhur Abalos later clarified that the warning was only Valmocina’s personal opinion and not the DILG's official position on the matter.

Proceeding with caution

At a Palace press briefing on Wednesday, Abalos reiterated that he already wrote a letter before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to seek clarification on whether or not barangay officials can participate in the signature campaign.

He cited a resolution from the Comelec en banc, which states that, "As it hereby resolves to approve the recommendation of the law department, that elective barangay officials be excepted from the prohibition under Section 261 of the Omnibus Election Code, without prejudice to the powers supervision of the DILG over elective officials and to any administrative liability and active officials may incur under laws other than Section 261 of the Omnibus Election Code."

"I am just going to meet with him (Garcia), if ever. Because this is quite clear, kasi mahirap magkamali ito, mahirap ding mag-finger pointing dito (It's hard to commit mistake on this, it's difficult to point finger on this). I am just saying to you some laws that we have. I just want to be guided... It's as simple as that," Abalos said.

"Just so walang pagkakamali. I have said, this is a very sensitive issue na mahirap magkamali na basta na lang ako gagawa. Because these are documents na lumabas, I just want to be clarified on this," he added.

(Just so, we don't make any mistakes. I have said that this is a very sensitive issue. We don't want to make mistakes if we move forward without studying the matter. I just want to be clarified in light of these documents.)

Abalos said he just wants to proceed with prudence on the matter.

Letter to Comelec

Last Monday, the interior secretary said he wanted to know Comelec’s decision on the matter of exempting elective barangay officials from the prohibition on engaging in electioneering and partisan political activity.

“Ibig sabihin, pupuede. But again, they cannot use government resources, malinaw ‘yan kahit saan. Pero pupuede, pupuede talaga ‘yan. Antayin na lang muna natin, sasagot naman kaagad ang Comelec,” Abalos said.

(This means barangay officials are allowed to do so, but they can’t use government resources. But let’s just wait for the Comelec’s response.)—with a report from Anna Felicia Bajo/ RF/ VDV, GMA Integrated News