Lawmakers want to postpone barangay, SK polls

MANILA, Philippines — Two congressmen have filed bills seeking the postponement of the combined barangay-Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections set for the second Monday of May next year.

Two senators have introduced similar measures in the Senate. Faustino Dy V of Isabela is proposing that the elections be postponed to the second Monday of May 2023, while Johnny Pimentel of Surigao is suggesting that the vote be held on Oct. 11, 2021.

Dy said his proposal “would essentially give the current officials…a full five-year term.”

“The succeeding elections shall be conducted every five years thereafter.

The bill, if passed, will affect over 670,000 barangay and SK officials belonging to the country’s 41,948 barangays,” he said. He said incumbent officers were elected in May last year.

“If we hold the next election for these public servants in May next year, that only gives them woefully short, inadequate two-year terms,” Dy added.

As for Pimentel, he said he would want to give the Commission on Elections (Comelec) an additional 17 months “to prepare for the next barangay and SK elections, considering that we just concluded the May 13 mid-term national and local polls.”

“In particular, we want the Comelec to see to it that young Filipinos who come of age have ample time to register as voters…so that they can actually participate in the balloting,” he said.

He said postponing the elections would also mean deferring the spending of the P3-billion budget for the balloting.

Under Pimentel’s bill, all of the country’s 670,000 sitting barangay and SK officials whose terms are due to end on June 30, 2020 would remain in office until their successors are elected, unless sooner removed or suspended for cause.