WITH the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) polls having been postponed several times in recent years, the head of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday said it might be good to just consider giving village and youth officials longer terms.
In a virtual media forum, Elections chairman George Garcia said it would be a good idea for lawmakers to set a longer term of five years from the current three years for all elected barangay and SK officials.
“It may be good to consider that, maybe, three years is really short for barangay and SK officials. Lawmakers may also consider stating in the law setting, for example, five-year terms for barangay and SK officials,” Garcia said.
The poll chief, however, said such longer terms should not be granted to elected officials by postponing scheduled elections.
“This shouldn’t be granted by resetting the next elections, but rather by providing it in the laws,” he said.
Under the Local Government Code, the term of office of barangay and SK officials shall be for three years.
However, since 2016, the barangay and SK polls have been postponed three times, particularly in October 2016, October 2017, and May 2020.
Such postponement of elections has resulted to all incumbent barangay and SK officials remaining in office on hold-over capacities.
Recently, several lawmakers have proposed the postponement of the December 5, 2022 barangay and SK elections (BSKE), the budget of which they said could be used by the government to fund COVID-19 response programs.
BALLOT PRINTING
Garcia expressed hope that lawmakers will decide on the fate of the BSKE by the end of August because the Comelec is looking at starting the printing of the official ballots by next month.
“Our timetable is we need to start printing ballots by September. We need to have enough time to print the ballots and verify them to see if they have the correct size, color, and positions,” he explained.
Garcia said as much as four million ballots can be printed per day.
“We have over 70 million voters, including the SK voters. So we really have a tight timetable,” he said.
Garcia reiterated that the Comelec cannot idly wait for the decision of Congress over the fate of the BSKE.
“We stand firm on our decision that while there is an existing law stating that the next elections is December 5, 2022, we must begin preparing and continue what we should be doing.”
