Poll watchdog insists delaying December BSKE unreasonable

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THE Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) yesterday reiterated its opposition to the proposed postponement of the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE), saying several issues over its budget allocation makes it unreasonable.

In a statement, LENTE said their opposition has been affirmed by the budget issues bared during the hearing of the Senate Committee on Electoral Reform and People’s Participation held last Tuesday.

“LENTE reiterates its position that the December 2022 Barangay and SK elections should not be postponed. The Senate hearing just re-confirms the lack of reason to postpone the December BSKE,” it said.

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In particular, the poll watchdog noted how the postponement will result in an escalation of BSKE-related finances from P8.449 billion to P17 billion if it will be held in May 2023, or to P18 billion if moved to December 2023.

“The BSKE postponement’s major purpose to allocate budget to more important issue areas is undermined by the fact that more budget is necessary to account for the delay,” said LENTE.

Similarly, it also stressed that existing laws prohibit the transfer of appropriation of the budget for the barangay and youth polls.

“The remaining budget for the supposed 2022 BSKE cannot be reallocated to other government agencies,” said LENTE.

Finally, the group said lawmakers should take note of the public’s sentiment regarding the proposal to postpone the December 5 polls, as seen in online comments made during the livestream of the Senate hearing.

“Out of 350 comments made, 4 percent of Facebook accounts favored postponing the BSKE, 19 percent supported holding the elections as scheduled, while 77 percent offered no response,” the group pointed out.

Several bills have been filed in both the House of Representatives and the Senate seeking the postponement of the December 5 polls.

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