Move to reset SK, barangay polls not a Senate priority

Although the approved House bill postponing the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections still has to go through the process in the Senate, it is not on the list of priority bills to be discussed before the adjournment of the 14th Congress on October 13.

Senate President Manny Villar who was in Cebu yesterday said that although they junked the House bill in their caucus, they still have to act on it on the floor.

Villar said that those pushing for the postponement of the SK and barangay elections can still lobby in the Senate. Although he said 90 percent of them want the SK and barangay elections to push through as these have already been postponed twice now.

Villar said that during the caucus he called for, the decision to go on with the SK and barangay elections on October 29 was the sentiment of the majority in the Senate and not merely a partisan position.

Besides, Villar admitted that making the postponement of the elections into law lacks time.

Villar said that the Senate expects to pass at least 14 priority measures before it adjourns on October 13.  The Senate will go on a recess starting October 13 and will resume session on November 5 based on the legislative calendar.

The Senate is giving priority to social justice measures that include the Cheaper Medicines Act, the expansion of agricultural assistance to farmers and scholarships to their children under the ACEF bill, the Veterans bill, the human rights indemnity for prisoners, the new UP Charter, strengthening the judiciary by giving additional retirement benefits to judges and justices, and the amendments to the Child Pornography Law.

Also on the priority list of the Senate are the bill fixing the term of the AFP chief of staff to three years, the Tourism Act, the Anti-Cellphone Theft Act, Creation of the Commission on Missing Persons, and the economic bills particularly the Credit Information Bureau Act, the Personal Equity Retirement Act and the amendments to the Small and Medium Enterprises Law.

Villar said that normally, the Senate, during the First Regular Session, is unable to pass bills, but this time, they expect to pass measures in the list of their priority.  — Gregg M. Rubio/BRP