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No reason to postpone barangay, SK polls anew —Koko
Senate President Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III on Monday said he sees no reason why the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections slated this May should be postponed again.
Interviewed by reporters, he said he could not think of a "heavy reason" that could warrant the postponement of the barangay and SK elections as proposed by at least two members of the House of Representatives.
"Wala nga akong maisip. Kaya nga hindi ako nag-file ng postponement kasi kung may naisip talaga ako na reason papa-postpone ko rin, pero wala," Pimentel said.
"Handa na yata lahat. Handa na ang Comelec. Handa na 'yung mga nakaupo. Handa na rin ang botante. 'Yung mga ayaw na nila, 'yung kanilang mga kapitan, gusto na nila ng halalan para mapalitan," he added.
Surigao del Sur Representative Johnny Pimentel, meanwhile, filed a bill seeking to postpone the barangay and SK elections to October 2018.
Originally scheduled for October 2016, the barangay and SK elections were moved to October 2017 and then to May 2018.
Pimentel, meanwhile, said lawmakers only have two session weeks remaining before they go on break, making it virtually difficult to work on the postponement of the elections.
"Malabo pero depende sa House. Alam mo naman sa House kaya nila ipasa 'yan in one day. Pasa nila kaagad sa amin. Pero dito sa Senate, mabigat na diskusyon 'yan," he said.
For his part, Senate Minority Floor Leader Franklin Drilon called the bills a "serious effort to postpone the barangay election and piggyback the constitutional amendments, which, obviously, will be railroaded in that kind of timetable."
"The only way to do it is to railroad it. Remember that the plebiscite cannot be held earlier than 60 days after the approval of the amendments nor later than 90 days – that’s in the Constitution. Again this tightens the timetable very much," he said. —KBK, GMA News
