President Duterte is not interested in having the power to appoint barangay officers-in-charge in the event the village elections are postponed.

The President said he told Congress leaders to pass the appointing power to someone else to dispel speculations he would abuse such authority.

“If they decide on the appointment, I told the House of Representatives through the Speaker, ‘Do not give me the power to appoint. I don’t want it. Just give it to someone else,’” the president said during the “Sa Totoo Lang” program hosted by Erwin Tulfo on state-owned PTV-4 television.

“The opposition claimed: ‘Is it giving the President too much power to pick people close to him?’ If that’s the case, don’t give it to me,” he said.

The President earlier pushed for the postponement of the barangay elections in October due to concerns that drug-linked officials might be elected into office. Duterte, instead, proposed the replacement of village officials with appointed officers-in-charge.

In the same interview, the President said he remains opposed to the barangay polls to prevent those involved in the drug trade from getting back to power.

He noted that 40 percent of the barangay captains have been implicated in illegal drug trade. He said unscrupulous people might threaten or harass people to vote for them during the polls.

Source:
courtesy of MANILA BULLETIN

by Genalyn D. Kabiling

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