DILG: Barangay, SK polls will push through

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Tuesday assured the public that the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections on May 14 will not be postponed.

“Malacanang’s pronouncement that the polls will proceed as scheduled should put to rest speculations that it will be postponed again,” DILG Officer-in-Charge Secretary Eduardo Año said.

Año said the DILG and the Philippine National Police is already preparing to ensure a peaceful and orderly elections.

He warned the public of a certain group's efforts to secure appointments as "OIC-barangay captains."

“Nagsalita na po ang Malacanang na tuloy ang eleksyon. Kaya paalala po ulit na huwag tayong magpapaloko sa mga grupong umiikot at ginagamit ang pangalan ni Presidente at ng DILG para mangalap ng mga nomination," he said.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque on Monday belied Senator Franklin Drilon's claim that Duterte's allies in the House of Representatives are pushing for another postponement to give way to a charter change plebiscite in October.

Calling Drilon's claim "strange" and "speculative," Roque said Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III earlier declared in a forum that there was no support in the Senate for another postponement.

DILG spokesman and assistant secretary Jonathan Malaya, meanwhile, clarified that the two House bills calling for the postponement of barangay elections have not been approved.

Malaya added that there are also no similar bills at the Senate.

He said the DILG is already promoting the upcoming elections with its campaign dubbed “Matino, Mahusay, at Maaasahang” Barangay and SK officials.

He said the campaign seeks to “encourage the public to vote for good leaders in the May polls.”

The DILG has also created a guide which has a “checklist of traits” that voters should look for in candidates.

The barangay and SK elections were originally scheduled in October 2016, but were postponed to October 2017. Congress then moved it to May this year. —ALG, GMA News