Barangay Internal Rules of Procedure (IRP)

Regular or special, Internal rules of procedure (IRP),  are needed for the efficient conduct of sessions. These rules put order in transactions and clarify the duties and responsibilities of sangguniang barangay members during meeting and sessions. In Article 103 of the IRR of RA7160 states that IRP must either be adopted or updated on the first regular session of the sangguniang barangay following the election of its members and within 90 days thereof.

For seasoned barangay officials, terms used in the IRP are already a given. Some of these terms are adjourn, agenda, assembly, debate, floor, point of information, quorum, among others. The minimum requirements of the IRP is also provided, as follows:

• the organization of the sanggunian and the election of its officers as well as the creation of standing committees which shall include, but shall not be limited to, the committee on (a) appropriations, (b) women and family, (c) human rights, (d) youth and sports development, (e) environmental protection, and (f) cooperative; the general jurisdiction of each committees, and the election of the chairman and members of each committees
• the order and calendar of business for each session;
• the legislative process;
• the parliamentary procedures which include the conduct of members during sessions;
• the discipline of members for disorderly behavior and absences without justifiable cause for four (4) consecutive sessions, for which they may be censured, reprimanded, or excluded from the session, suspended for not more than 60 days, or expelled. Provided, that the penalty of suspension or expulsion shall require the concurrence of at least two-thirds (2/3) vote of all the sanggunian members. Provided, further, that a member convicted by final judgment to imprisonment of at least one (1) year for any crime involving moral turpitude shall be automatically expelled from the sanggunian;
• Such other rules as the sanggunian may adopt.

A suggested IRP outline is provided below:
a) Rule 1 - Composition
b) Rule II - Powers, Duties and Functions of the Sanggunian
c) Rule III - Duties and Responsibilities of Individual Members
d) Rule IV - Presiding Officer
e) Rule V - Temporary Presiding Officer
f) Rule VI - Regular and Special Sessions
g) Rule VII - Quorum
h) Rule VIII - Order of Business
i) Rule IX - Legislative Process
j) Rule X - votes and voting
k) Rule XI - Rules on Debates and Amendments
l) Rule XII - Committees
m) rule XIII - Committee Reports
n) Rule XIV - Journal and Record of Proceedings
o) Rule XV -  Rules on Motion
p) Rule XVI - Disciplinary Actions
q) Rule XVII - Suspension of Rules

Procedures During Sangguniang Barangay Session

The Barangay Council is a collegial body and as such, decisions are arrived at as a group. These decisions are made at sangguniang barangay sessions where the punong barangay presides.

A session denotes a series of meetings, conducted in close succession and for any length of time. A session is ended by adjournment sine die. The LGC of 1991 provides that no two sessions of the local sanggunians can be held in a single day.

As you know, there are two types of sessions, the regular or special. Regular sessions are ones convened at scheduled times and deal with both thee general and usual business of the sanggunian while special sessions are ones which are called as the need arises to tackle specific item/s or issue/s.

Presented are some tips on presiding a session/meeting and also on calling them to order.

Presiding a Session/Meeting:

     a. The presiding officer follows a general order of business which normally starts with the call to order and ends with the official adjournment; and

     b. The order of business is a means to provide a logical system for group considerations and the procedure by which the Chair tackles one item after another. The order of business can be revised anytime by a 2/3 vote of the members.

Calling the Session to Order

    a. To open the session, the Chairperson rises, raps he gavel and declares; "The session may please come to order." He may then proceed with the other opening rites or numbers or directly inquire from the secretary if a quorum is present.

    b. If there is a quorum, the Chair proceeds with the agenda or order of business.

    c. If there is no quorum, he says: "As there is no quorum, a motion to adjourn is in order." a motion ahs to be made by a member, then duly seconded, and then the chair declares the session adjourned or defer the time to wait for others to arrive.

    d. If a quorum cannot be obtained, the Chair may conduct a caucus without quorum. However, actions and decisions promulgated during such session (or more appropriately caucus) shall be subject to approval at the next duly constituted session.

    e. The Chair usually decides to forego the calling of the roll except in instances where there is a question as to whether there is a quorum, or to identify all individuals present and those not present.

    f. If the session starts with a quorum, but loses it later in the session, only those item taken up or for which votes were taken while the quorum exists shall be considered officially acted upon.

    g. For all others, the session shall be converted to a caucus and discussion may continue but no vote can be taken.