14 Setyembre 2022, Miyerkules
Mabuhay 17th Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr.
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Hse OKs postponement of bgy, SK polls
By Nidz Godino
“We need to pass this law ASAP because time is of essence…both barangay and SK elections is just few months away so we are hoping that we can approve this in the House on or before Oct. 1,” House Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe said.House of Representatives approved on second reading consolidated measure that will postpone holding of barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) polls on Dec. 5 this year to the first week of December 2023, effectively extending terms of officials by another year.
In a hybrid session, administration lawmakers unanimously approved consolidated House Bill 4673, a consolidation of 43 separate bills authored by at least 82 House members, about three months before originally scheduled political exercise.
Dalipe said House leadership, led by Speaker Martin Romualdez, is determined to approve the bill by Oct. 1 and have it signed into law by President Ferdinand Marcos before scheduled barangay and SK elections on Dec. 5.
Comelec Chairman George Garcia told lawmakers earlier holding elections either in May or December 2023 would make election expenditures balloon from current allocation of P8 billion to P18 billion.
Poll watchdogs have also opposed postponement, pointing out that others must be given chance to serve, and some SK officials are already overaged for their posts.
Questions have also been raised on why lawmakers are so eager to please barangay officials, who are reportedly lobbying for another extension of their term.
Dalipe said Senate has likewise made clear commitment that they would pass their counterpart measure to allow postponement of barangay elections.
Three Senate committees have endorsed postponement, contained in Senate Bill 1306, which was consolidation of three measures calling for the same.
Sen. Imee Marcos, chair of committee on electoral reform, was expected to sponsor the bill on the floor last night but session remained suspended as of press time.
The two other panels endorsing postponement are committees on local governments and finance, chaired by Senators JV Ejercito and Sonny Angara, respectively.
Subsequent synchronized barangay and SK elections were also set on the first Monday of 2026 and every three years thereafter.
Once passed into law, incumbent barangay and SK officials will retain their position on hold over capacity “unless sooner removed or suspended for cause.”
Dalipe said the Speaker supports proposal because this would allow Commission on Elections (Comelec) and local government units to better prepare for clean and orderly barangay polls, and give government ample time to apply corrective adjustments to the honoraria of poll workers.
The original October 2016 barangay and SK polls were postponed to October 2017. From there, it was postponed to May 2018, which was again reset to December 2022.
Last August, 14 members of the House committee on suffrage and electoral reforms with exception of Kabataan party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel voted to approve postponement of barangay and SK elections to 2023.
The substitute bill will be sent to the House appropriations committee, headed by Rep. Zaldy Co of Ako Bicol party-list, for purposes of allocating funds for political exercise, which has been postponed ostensibly to save funds to be used for the pandemic response.
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