ELECTED barangay officials will be barred from engaging in partisan political activities during the campaign period for the May 2019 elections, said the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), which is now finalizing a new memorandum for the purpose.
During a media forum on Friday, Interior Assistant Sec. Jonathan E. Malaya said: “I submitted a memorandum to Sec. [Eduardo] Año so the DILG will finally have an opinion [on the role of barangay official during the elections].”
He said this will be similar in nature to that issued by the Commission on Election (Comelec) and the Civil Service Commission (CSC) in the 2016 polls, which aims to make barangay officials apolitical.
“We will fast track the release of our official position so we could make the necessary warning to officials,” Malaya said.
Malaya said existing legislation only stops barangay officials from joining a political party while they are running for their position.
But, he admitted, there is no law directly stopping them from being affiliated with a political party after they are elected.
“Membership of a political party will necessarily require you to take political action during elections,” Malaya said
He said they hope the “legal issue” will be remedied by their new issuance, once it takes effect.