Hernie Juanico Olaco

Hernie Juanico Olaco is the Punong Barangay currently leading Barangay Pandan, part of the municipality of Sogod in Southern Leyte, serving the 2023 - 2026 term. Under Philippine law, the Punong Barangay is directly elected by the residents of the barangay.

Under the Local Government Code of 1991, the Punong Barangay leads the Sangguniang Barangay, signs ordinances and resolutions, represents the barangay in transactions with other government units, administers the barangay budget and appropriations, and oversees the Lupong Tagapamayapa that handles amicable settlement of disputes at the barangay level. The office is the most directly accountable elected position in the Philippine government.

Barangay Pandan is one of 45 barangays in the municipality of Sogod, in the province of Southern Leyte, in the Eastern Visayas region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 Census of Population and Housing, Barangay Pandan had a population of 1,684 residents — the constituency that Hernie serves as Punong Barangay. Southern Leyte is classified as a 3rd by the Bureau of Local Government Finance.

Elected through the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections, Hernie Juanico Olaco is serving the current four-year term established under Republic Act No. 12232, which extended the barangay official's term from three years to four. The next BSKE will be held on Monday, November 2, 2026, following COMELEC Resolution No. 11191.

A Philippine barangay's Sangguniang Barangay is composed of one Punong Barangay, seven Sangguniang Barangay Members (kagawads), a Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Chairperson representing the youth sector, a Barangay Secretary, and a Barangay Treasurer. Together, these officials administer the smallest unit of Philippine local government and deliver frontline services — from barangay clearance issuance to peace and order, from public health assistance to the barangay's share of the Internal Revenue Allotment.