Postponing barangay polls a ‘mistake’ as COVID-19 crisis shows some execs’ incompetence —solon

For ACT-CIS party-list Representative Jocelyn Tulfo, postponing the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections to December 2022 was a "mistake" as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis only exposed the incompetence of some incumbent officials.

"Postponing the barangay and SK elections so far into the future in December 2022 was a mistake. Mistakes can be corrected. Let us correct this soon," Tulfo said in a statement on Wednesday.

According to Tulfo, the barangay and SK elections should be held early or middle of next year after the COVID-19 crisis has passed.

"Waiting for December 5, 2022 for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections would be torture for the millions of Filipinos whose village officials are performing dismally and whose incompetence was exposed during this COVID-19," she said.

"Having the village elections on December 5, 2022 will only serve to make voters forget about how terrible their incompetent local officials were when they were needed to step up," she added.

Tulfo also said that having the barangay and SK elections sooner would allow performing barangay officials to have a fresh mandate from their constituents, and this could serve as a reward for them for the "exemplary" services they rendered.

President Rodrigo Duterte in December last year signed the law postponing the barangay and SK elections to December 5, 2022. The polls were originally scheduled to be held in May this year.

The elections were postponed supposedly to allow the incumbent village officials "to continue implementing various policies and complete programs that they just started as funds have just been made available, for a more sustainable development of the barangays."

As of Wednesday, there are a total of 5,453 cases of COVID-19 reported in the Philippines, with 349 deaths and 353 recoveries. — Erwin Colcol/BM, GMA News