THE barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections set on December 5 would most likely be postponed for a year as lawmakers from both Houses of Congress agreed to act on the measure with only three months left.
The House of Representatives yesterday unanimously approved on second reading its consolidated version of the measure, determined to approve the bill on third and final reading by October 1 and have it signed into law by President Marcos Jr. before the synchronized election date.
House majority leader Jose Manuel Dalipe said the Senate “has likewise made a clear commitment that they would pass their counterpart measure to allow the postponement of the barangay elections.”
Under the measure, the synchronized barangay and SK polls will be held on the first Monday of December 2023 and three years thereafter.
Those elected during the December 2023 polls will start their term at noon of January 1, 2024.
There are more than 40 bills authored by 82 House members seeking to postpone the December polls, including those filed by Rep. Mujiv Hataman of Basilan, Richard Gomez of Leyte and Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales, who said the money to be saved from the postponement can be used for other purposes, such as for the COVID-19 pandemic response and financial aid to the poor.
Once the measure is passed into law, incumbent barangay and SK officials will retain their positions on holdover capacity “unless sooner removed or suspended for cause.”
Dalipe said that Speaker Martin Romualdez supports the proposal because this would allow the Commission and Election and local government units (LGUs) to better prepare for clean and orderly barangay polls and provide the government ample time to apply corrective adjustments to the honoraria of poll workers.
“We need to pass this law ASAP because time is of the essence. The barangay and SK elections is just a few months away so we are hoping that we can approve this in the House on or before October 1. Hopefully, the Senate will do the same so that we can have an approved measure in time for the President’s signature before the election period,” he said.
The bill was sponsored on the floor by Mountain Province Rep. Maximo Dalog Jr., chair of the committee on suffrage and electoral reforms.
Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman opposed the approval due to lack of quorum or lack of warm bodies on the floor but after a brief session suspension, it became evident that the quorum was attained.
