If barangay elections were not held, the power of the people to elect their own leaders and not allow their leaders to just be appointed, will be removed away from them. Pimentel told MindaNews in an e-mail that “there is no question that having the barangay officials elected by their constituents would be more in consonance with our Constitution than having them appointed by the President.”“Getting the barangay officials elected by the people of the barangay concerned makes them beholden to their voters. Pimentel also served as Senate President from 2000 to 2001. There are 42,036 barangays nationwide as of December 2016, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority, with at least 330,000 elected barangay officials at one barangay chair and seven councilors each. The Senate President said he will meet with the President to clarify his proposal.