Interior and Local Government Secretary Benhur Abalos on Monday said the positions expressed by Undersecretary for Barangay Affairs Chito Balmocina last Saturday were not an official stand of the department for barangay officials to participate in the gathering of signatures for the nationwide petition for People’s Initiative to change the Constitution.

Abalos immediately called a press conference at his office to say that he had already written Commission on Elections Chairman George Garcia to clarify the roles of barangay chairmen as well as other barangay officials with regards to PI.

“We should proceed with this (PI process) very carefully,” Abalos said.

The statement of Valmocina during a news forum at Quezon City on Saturday, according to the DILG Secretary “does not reflect the DILG position on the matter.”

Valmocina warned and told newsmen at that forum, that barangay officials are not allowed to participate in signature gathering for PI.

Abalos, however, showed a Comelec Resolution issued on 8 April 2022 noting that barangay officials are exempted on non-political activities.

This, he said, is the main reason why he wrote Garcia to explain what is really the role of barangay officials to PI.

He also asked Valmocina to explain to him why he had mentioned such things during the forum without consulting the department’s legal division.

“Let this be a warning (to other DILG officials) for us not to create confusions on the ground,” Abalos said.