LEYTE Rep. Richard Gomez has filed a measure seeking to postpone the synchronized barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections set on December 5, 2022 for a year to give the government some financial breathing room in the wake of the recently concluded May 9 national and local elections.
“That’s why a postponement can be called. The remaining balance of the budget for the year and for barangay and SK elections can be used for agricultural programs, which are badly needed and a priority of the new President,” Gomez said in House Bill No. 937.
The actor and former Ormoc City mayor said the P8 billion budget for the barangay and SK polls “can be used to prioritize the rice program for agricultural mechanization, seeds program and more research for rice production.”
“We can budget the barangay and SK elections next year,” said the neophyte lawmaker whose bill, in effect, seeks to extend the terms of incumbent barangay and SK officials for a year in a hold-over capacity.
The bill proposed that if the barangay and SK elections will be held on December 5, 2023, subsequent synchronized barangay and SK polls “shall be held on the first Monday of 2026 and every three years thereafter.”
It provides that the terms of office of barangay and SK officials shall take effect at noon of January 1 the following year.
The measure seeks to amend Republic Act. No. 9164 as amended by R.A. Nos. 9340, 10632, 10656, 10923, 10952 and 11462.
