Barangay, SK election season has started —Comelec official

Unless a law is signed postponing it, the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections scheduled for October 23 will push through, and the election season has actually started, a Commission on Elections official said Sunday.

In an interview on Radio dzBB, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez, said "Tuloy ang elections. Unless mapirmahan ang panukalang-batas na nagsasabing i-postpone ito."

He said that some 50 million ballots are ready for delivery, and that the filing of certificates of candidacy will start on October 5 and will officially end on October 11.

Jimenez pointed out that the proposed law postponing the local polls should better be signed by the President soonest, before the filing of certificates of candidacy (COC) begins to avoid some problems.

He said that those who are planning to run would be in trouble if the law postponing the polls would be signed after the filing of the COCs.

"Ang problema natin, kapag nag-start na yung filing at may nakapag-file na, tapos biglang sinuspinde ang election, the problem there is that when you file a certificate of candidacy, automatically deemed resigned ka, so mawawalan sila ng trabaho kapag na-suspend."

He pointed out that, "...yung appointed officials, who are basically government employee na nagbabalak sanang tumakbo para sa barangay, kapag nakapag-file sila, they are out of their jobs and they are not even candidates anymore. So, yun ang malaking problema."

Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police started setting up nationwide Comelec checkpoints Saturday midnight.

The local election season has officially started,  even as there is a pending a proposed law seeking to postpone it until the second week of May 2018.

Reportedly, the proposed law is already on the President's table, waiting for signature. —LBG, GMA News