Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 29) – President Rodrigo Roa Duterte wants to appoint barangay officials to fast-track his charter change initiative to shift to a federal form of government, a lawmaker said.
Akbayan Party-list Representative Tomasito Villarin claimed Wednesday that the president’s plan will strengthen support for his policies.
“You have now an army of supporters, an army of loyalists, people whose loyalty is not to the people but to the appointing authority. It would promote this system of a machinery, creating a political machinery that would implement policies of the president or the appointing authority,” Villarin said.
Duterte said after arriving from his visit to Thailand that he is considering appointing barangay officials in a bid to stop narcopolitics at the grassroots.
Read more: Duterte eyes appointment, not election, of barangay officials
Villarin likened Duterte’s plan to that of former President Ferdinand Marcos, who used barangay assemblies to ratify the 1973 Constitution that gave him grounds for authoritarian rule.
He believed Duterte’s appointees would help him ratify changes in the Constitution through a national referendum.
“It’s very undemocratic, and it has authoritarian tendency,” Villarin warned.
Easy passage because of ‘supermajority’ bloc
Meanwhile, House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms Chairman Sherwin Tugna believes it would be easy to pass a bill postponing the barangay election, but not a bill granting powers to the President to appoint barangay officials.
“There will be a debate on that here in the house. Wala pang [There is still no] precedent. Iyong postponement kasi, may precedent na [But the postponement already has a precedent].”
Surigao del Norte Representative Ace Barbers filed House Bill 5359 on Monday which would further postpone barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections in October 2017 to May 2020.
Read more: House moves to further postpone barangay elections to 2020
House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, who supports Duterte’s plan, downplayed Villarin’s statement.
“Masyado nang long shot iyan. But anyway, lahat naman ng gagawin natin, may mag-o-oppose talaga,” Alvarez said.
[Translation: It’s a long shot, but anyway, in everything that we do, there’s always opposition.]
Alvarez previously said he believes the “supermajority” coalition in the House will support Duterte’s proposal, saying he has not received any opposition from any member of the majority.
