Bacolod City – Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez invited all elected barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan officials in Bacolod City to attend a mass oath taking ceremony at the SMX Convention Center on Friday, November 10.
Benitez will administer the oath of office of about 976 elected barangay and SK officials who will take part in the first ever mass oath taking in Bacolod, where he will be presenting the Good Governance Code.
The mayor pointed out that the Supreme Court has declared the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) as unconstitutional.
This means that all previous barangay officials were actually on hold over capacity. So once the newly elected barangay and SK officials have been proclaimed and have taken their oath, they can technically assume office right away, Benitez said.
They are just waiting for the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to come up with the proper mechanism for a smooth transition of the newly elected officials, he said.
Benitez said that once the requirements have been completed, they can already assume office.
“We want to expedite the transition since the previous officials were on hold over capacity. We also want to make sure that the inventory of assets of the barangays are accepted by the newly elected officials,” he said.
Benitez had also issued a memorandum directing the City Accountant to coordinate and collaborate with the DILG director and other members of the City Assessment and Transition Team (CATT) to facilitate a seamless transfer of responsibilities to the incoming officials.
The memorandum also establishes a transition period, not to exceed three weeks. Additionally, it allows officials to secure and comply with the bonding requirements and other requisites under existing laws, rules and regulations. (Chrysee Semillano via The Visayan Daily Star (TVDS), photo courtesy of TVDS)