Dispensing with the Conduct of Barangay Assembly Day for the Second Semester of CY 2007

October 20, 2007

PROCLAMATION NO. 1404

DISPENSING WITH THE CONDUCT OF BARANGAY ASSEMBLY DAY FOR THE SECOND SEMESTER OF CY 2007

WHEREAS, Sections 397 and 398 of the 1991 Local Government Code require a twice a year barangay assembly, to hear and discuss matters involving semestral report of the sangguniang barangay concerning its activities and finances, as well as problems affecting the barangay. Said assembly shall be participated in by actual residents of the barangay for at least six (6) months, fifteen years of age or over, citizens of the Philippines, and duly registered in the list of barangay assembly members. TEAICc

WHEREAS, to diligently fulfill the purpose thereof and to emphasize the role and importance of the barangay in the government, Proclamation No. 342, dated March 18, 2003 was issued by the President, Declaring the last Saturday of March 2003 and Third Saturday of October 2003 and Every Year Thereafter as Synchronized Barangay Assembly Day.

WHEREAS, Section 1 of Republic Act 9340, provides that "the Synchronized Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Elections shall be held on the last Monday of October 2007 (October 29, 2007) and every three years thereafter".

WHEREAS, pursuant to COMELEC Resolution No. 8264, providing for the Calendar of Activities and Prohibited Acts for the 2007 Synchronized Barangay and SK Elections, the campaign period starts on October 19, 2007 and is already within the campaign period per COMELEC Resolution Nos. 8264 and 8300.

WHEREAS, to ensure that no candidate running for the 2007 Synchronized Barangay and SK Elections shall take advantage of the Synchronized Barangay Assembly day on October 20, 2007 as venue to launch or endorse the candidacy of an individual or engage in partisan political activities, there is a need to dispense with the conduct of the Synchronized Barangay Assembly Day for the second semester of CY 2007 set on October 20, 2007.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby declare that the Synchronized Barangay Assembly Day for the second semester of CY 2007 set on October 20, 2007 shall be dispensed with for this year only. However, the next Synchronized Barangay Assembly shall still be on the last Saturday of March 2008 and the third Saturday of October 2008 and every year thereafter pursuant to Proclamation No. 342. THaAEC

DONE in the City of Manila, this 20th day of October, in the Year of Our Lord, Two Thousand and Seven.