Senate approves postponement of barangay, SK polls on final reading

Voting 21-0, the Senate has approved on third and final reading a bill postponing the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections, originally scheduled for May 2020, to December 5, 2022.

No senators opposed nor abstained from the voting.

The bill proposes holding the Barangay and SK elections every three years.

The amended Senate Bill No. 1043, a consolidation of five bills, was contained in Committee Report No. 4 and presented in the plenary by Senator Imee Marcos, chairperson of the electoral reforms and people’s participation.

If enacted into law, there will be two elections in 2022 - the presidential elections in May while the elections for village and youth leaders will be in December of the same year.

Marcos earlier said the six and half months period is enough for Comelec to prepare for the local polls.

“We have given six and a half months which they consider as sufficient time. It is manual, it is not hybrid…So six and a half months or so apparently is a short period, Comelec will be pressed for time but they claim that they can do it without undue failure of elections and other problems,” she said.

The barangay elections had been postponed six times since 1988.

Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto on Friday said barangay officials should be given a six-year term to stop the practice of frequently postponing the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan polls.

“I propose elections to be held either one year before or after the presidential elections and every six years thereafter. I also propose the term of office should be six years with one reelection,” Recto said in a text message to GMA News Online.

He said he will raise the proposal when the bicameral conference committee meets to reconcile the disagreeing provisions in the Senate and House versions of the bill. —NB, GMA News