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Defeated
ABC prexy to reclaim council seat
Defeated and politically repudiated by the people in the last
elections by giving him an unprecedented mandate of being the
19th placer among 20 candidates for city councilor, per Comelec
count, the same councilor will take back his seat in the City
Council, — as if nothing happened.
Why? Because he happens
to be the ABC president,
elected by the barangay captains,
seven years ago, and a
duly elected barangay captain
of his barrio Tinago where he
also failed to get the top spot
as a councilor bet, in the May
14 elections.
DILG said, this makes
him hold an elective, and not
appointive position. As such,
the DILG added, the very
honorable Harrison Gonzales,
can come and re-claim his old
city council seat even in the
face of such electoral debacle,
a clear VOICE of the people
that he no longer has the mandate
of Dumaguetenos.
In a letter to the
CHRONICLE, the DILG city
operations officer Leopoldo
Gravador, said and we quote
his letter :
“Sec. 469-490 of the Local
Government Code enumerates
all appointive officials
common to all municipalities,
cities and provinces and Article
116 of the Rules and
Regulations Implementing the
Local Government Code also
enumerates the mandatory
appointive City Officials but
the Liga nga mga Barangay President
as ex-officio member of the
City Council is not one among
those enumerated.
On the contrary, the manner
of election and the ex-officio
membership of the Liga
President in the Sanggunian
is clearly provided along with
the manner of election of the
regular members of the
Sangguniang Bayan,
Sangguniang Panlungsod and
Sangguniang Panlalawigan
under Sec.41 (b) – Manner
of Election, Chapter 1-
Qualificaitons and Election,
Title Two – Elective Officials,
of the Local Government
Code.
It is therefore very clear
that the Liga ng mga
Barangay President as ex-officio
member of the City
Council is an elective official
occupying an elective position
and outside the coverage of
Sec.66 of the Omnibus Election
Code. He is not considered
resigned pursuant to
R.A. 9006 amending Sec.67
of the Omnibus Election
Code.
On the second issue, although
Sec.494 of the Code
provides that the term of the
Liga President as ex-officio
member of the Council shall
not go beyond the term of office
of the Sanggunian concerned,
the Supreme Court,
in Galarosa vs. Valencia, En
Banc, G.R. No. 109455,
Nov.11, 1993, held that
“Sec.494 of the Local Government
Code could not have
been intended to allow a gap
in the representation of the
barangays, through the Presidents
of the ABC, in the
Sanggunian”. In addition,
R.A.9340, Sec.5 (Holdover)
also provides that “ex-officio
members of the Sangguniang
Bayan, Sangguniang
Panlungsod and Sangguniang
Panlalawigan, as the case may
be shall continue to serve as
such members in Sanggunian
concerned until the next
barangay election”.
I hope I have clarified the
matter. Please rest assured
that we will not be co-conspirators
in any illegal and irregular
acts. Attached is a
copy of a Regional Legal
Opinion on this same subject
sent to Vice Mayor William
E. Ablong. (Sgd)
LEOPOLDO Y.
GRAVADOR
City Local Government
Operations Officer
ANOTHER OPINION.
An opposite opinion is
that he is not an elective official
as a city councilor because
as ABC president was
only chosen or appointed by
his fellow barangay captains,
and not by the PEOPLE at
large in a regular election. His
barangay post though, is an
elective position because he
was elected at large. As such,
he may return as a barangay
captain, but definitely, not as
an ABC president, primarily
because, the results of the
election shows that the People
at large no longer want him
to sit in the city council having
placed 19th out of 20 candidates
last May 14. And the
Constitution says, the sovereign
Will of the People is
above any law. That is why
People Power can even legitimize
a President of the
Philippines.
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