Lawmakers want 2013 barangay, SK elections postponed

MANILA, Philippines - At least four members of the House of Representatives want the next election for barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) officials postponed.

The election is scheduled for October next year, four months after the voting for 12 senators and a new set of congressmen, governors, mayors, and other provincial, city and town officials.

Representatives Ben Evardone of Eastern Samar, Rachel del Mar of Cebu City, Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro City and his brother Maximo, who represents the party-list group Abante Mindanao, have separately filed bills seeking the postponement of the October 2012 barangay and SK polls.

Evardone wants the vote moved to May 2014, Del Mar to October 2014 and the Rodriguez brothers to October 2015.

Their principal reason for seeking the postponement is to avoid the holding of two costly elections in one year.

Evardone said the deferment of the barangay and SK election has become a “matter of necessity for the government, which has to grapple with revenue collection shortfalls and has to come up with tax reform measures to shore up revenues.”   

The Rodriguez brothers said the nation would be saving billions of pesos by delaying the next vote for village and SK officers.

They said the country just spent P3.6 billion for the last barangay polls in 2010.

“It would be safe to assume that such amount would increase for the October 2013 polls, which amount could better be spent for other government projects like construction of bridges, roads and schools,” they said.

“Furthermore, the three-year term of barangay and SK officials is too short for the unity and stability in barangay leadership and affairs. The three-year term is not enough to ensure that the programs of the barangay are carried out properly. A two-year extension would therefore be in order,” they said.

The Rodriguez brothers pointed out that aside from the national elections in May next year, the government would be spending for the election of the new officers of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

They said a new law that Congress had passed mandates that the next ARMM vote be conducted together with the May 2013 national polls.

Del Mar, on the other hand, said it would be better if the nation spends for only one election next year – the May combined senatorial-congressional-local elections.

Recall elections occupy Comelec’s time

Meanwhile, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is now studying all pending petitions for recall elections to determine which among them should be pursued.

Comelec chairman Sixto Brillantes said the poll body may suspend actions on petitions that have been filed of late for lack of time to conduct recall elections.

“We are looking into all pending petitions. Actions on the cases that have been filed (not so long ago) may be stopped. But we may pursue cases, which we are about to finish. We are studying all the details,” Brillantes said.

The poll chief added that the Comelec has no more time to do all the processes required of a recall election if it was filed just recently since the last day for such an election is on May 12 or one year before the May 13, 2013 midterm polls.

“We may come up with a decision next week. We’re running out of time and we may not be able to do recall elections anymore. Why waste our time (if that’s the case),” he maintained.   

In a recall petition, the Comelec initially checks if a case is sufficient in form and substance and then create a verification committee that will validate the signatures in the petition. – With Sheila Crisostomo