ILOILO – The Liga ng mga Barangay (LMB) in this province honored “graduating” barangay officials – those in their third consecutive terms and barred by law from seeking a fourth term this May 14 barangay election.
The recognition was held during the recent Liga Day 2018 at the Iloilo Sports Complex in La Paz, Iloilo City themed “Pagpasalamat sa Isa ka Tampad kag Mabinungahon nga Pag-alagad.”
According to LMB president Pablito Gemarino, the last-termer barangay officials – barangay captains and councilmen – were recognized for serving the public for 11 years (three terms of three years each plus two years extension due to the postponement of the barangay election that was originally scheduled in 2016).
There were at least 635 three-termer barangay councilmen in the province and 434 three-termer barangay captains.
In Iloilo City, on the other hand, a total of 330 barangay officials are barred by law from seeking reelection for a fourth consecutive term this May 14.
These village officials included 62 barangay captains and 268 councilmen or members of barangay councils, according to Atty. Ferdinand Panes, chief of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Iloilo City.
Barangay captains and councilmen are limited to three consecutive terms only.
Recently, DILG officer-in-charge Eduardo Año ordered its regional offices to submit a list of incumbent barangay captains and Sangguniang Barangay members on their third and final terms.
This “preventive action” of the Department, according to Panes, was in line with Section 43 (b) of Republic Act 7160 (Local Government Code) which read: “No local elective official shall serve for more than three consecutive terms in the same position. Voluntary renunciation of the 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 concerned was elected.”
There are 180 barangay captains in Iloilo City and over a thousand barangay councilmen./PN
