Comelec prefers May 2018 or May 2020 if barangay, SK polls postponed

If Congress passes a law postponing October's barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections, then the Commission on Elections would prefer they be moved to May 2018 or May 2020, to buy it more time for preparations.

"If we are going to postpone it, our preference would be either May of 2018 or May 2020," Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista said Thursday during the Senate Committee on Electoral Reform's hearing on the proposed postponement of the community and SK polls in October 2017.

"Let's not do it in October [2018] because it's too close to the May 2019 mid-term national elections," he added.

A bill seeking to move reset the barangay and SK elections in October this year to October 2018 is now pending in the Senate electoral reforms panel.

The polls chief said that to properly manage an election, the Comelec needs at least one year's preparation.

Bautista also clarified that the polls body takes a neutral stance on whether or not the barangay and SK elections should be postponed.

Senator Richard Gordon said the Senate panel will look into Bautista's suggestion.

"I agree with you... and we are trying to look at it so we can decide on it right away," Gordon said. — BM, GMA News