DILG: 3-term village execs ineligible to seek same post

Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno on Monday clarified that elected village officials are covered by the three-consecutive term limit rule. In a statement, Puno said village officials who have already served for three consecutive terms in the same position since the 1994 elections are not allowed to run for the same position in the coming October polls. He made the clarification through a Department Advisory issued by Undersecretary for Local Government Austere Panadero as his office received numerous verbal and written queries on barangay officials' terms of office and term limits now that the elections are just two months away. In the advisory, Puno said that Section 2 of Republic Act 9164 or "An Act Providing for the Synchronized Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections, Amending RA 7160" clearly provides that no barangay elective officials shall serve for more than three (3) consecutive terms. He said the same provision states that "the term of office shall be reckoned from the 1994 barangay elections," and that "voluntary renunciation of office shall not be considered as an interruption in the continuity of service for the full term for which the elective official was elected." "Based on the said provision, elective barangay officials are covered by the three-consecutive term limit rule to hold the same position and the first term shall be reckoned from the 1994 barangay elections," Puno said. On the other hand, Panadero said that the queries from various sectors could have stemmed from the enactment of RA 9340 or "An Act Amending RA 9164, Resetting the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections, and For Other Purposes." He said that Section 2 of RA 9164 is not among the provisions expressly or impliedly repealed by RA 9340. "The three-consecutive term limit rule still applies to elected barangay officials seeking the same position." - Amita Legaspi, GMANews.TV