We congratulate all the winners of the last Barangay and Sanggunian Kabataan Election (BSKE) held last October 30, 2023. For the next two years of your term that will end in December 2025, constituents expect the winners to work hard to fulfill the promises made to voters, be prudent in the use of public funds, and be conscious of the public trust reposed in them as agents of the people who envisage primacy of the common welfare over the selfish interests of political dynasties and feuds. A good beginning augurs well for a successful tenure.

It is disturbing to hear the pronouncement of COMELEC, that is merely based on a letter from the COMELEC’s Law Department, informing the DILG that the proclaimed winners of the BSKE can assume their positions immediately after they are sworn into office and need not have to wait until December 1, 2023. Although there is a legal basis (Macalintal v Comelec and Hidalgo v Executive Secretary), its implementation is fraught with danger, strife and chaos because it does not afford reasonable time to exit and transfer power from the outgoing to the incoming administration.

If the COMELEC pronouncement is strictly followed, then it will add insult to the very painful loss of the incumbents who were still in power the whole day of Monday, October 30th, but by midmorning of Tuesday after the proclamation of the BSKE winners, they have all been emasculated. Theoretically, the winners can take their oath of office on Proclamation Day and immediately occupy the offices they were elected to. Aside from depression and other mental health problems, losing incumbent barangay officials may be vulnerable to administrative and criminal liability since they were not even given time to properly close the barangay’s financial books and endorse the inventory of equipment to the incoming Barangay administration.

In national and local elections, it is common for both sides (winner and losing incumbent) to form a transition team so that the accountabilities of the outgoing party can be documented and transferred to the new leadership in time for the start of the new term fixed by law. In the case of barangays, bank passbooks, vouchers, receipts and cash must be transferred to the Chairman and newly appointed treasurer of the barangay who are both obliged to post a fidelity bond at the Treasurer’s Office of the town or city. Barangay equipment such as ambulances and patrol vehicles, radios and office equipment and supplies must first be inventoried by the outgoing administration and witnessed by the COA. The Lupon Tagapamayapa, VAWC and Ex-O of the Barangay must also transfer their cases and books to the new leadership since they have all become functus officio. In the interregnum, no hearing of complaints within the jurisdiction of the Katarungan Pangbarangay can take place. The new administration must post in the barangay hall the names of 20 individuals nominated to serve as the new Lupon Tagapamayapa to give the public the opportunity to raise objections on a nominee’s qualification and integrity. Immediately upon assuming office, the Chairman must appoint a new Barangay Secretary and Barangay Treasurer whose appointments must be approved by the Sanggunian Barangay preferably in its inaugural session. In other words, all of these transitional steps cannot be accomplished in just one day or even a week for barangays with a large voting population and multi-million-peso appropriations. To rush assumption of office of winners sets the stage for losing accountable documents and chaos in the reconstitution of vital documents which may blow over to the next set of barangay officials in December 2025.

The role of Barangays and SKs is important as it is the face of government people first encounter. In order to be effective in fulfilling the expectations of the people, the first step is to ensure that there is an orderly and peaceful turn-over of power in the barangays because haste makes wastes.

Atty. Magi Gunigundo is a former lawmaker, civil law instructor, and author of law books. He is also an education reformer and an advocate of anticipatory governance.