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BY Prince Golez, Manila Reporter
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MANILA – Senators voted 20-2 in favor of postponing next month’s Barangay and SangguniangKabataan (SK) elections.
The newly approved Senate Bill No. (SBN) 1112 proposes to move the barangay and SK elections to Oct. 23, 2017.
Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara, sponsor and author of the bill, said the postponement will lead to higher voter turnout for the twin elections.
Citing the presence of “election fatigue” among voters, Angara said that out of the 6 million target for new voter registration, only 3 million were registered for the SK elections.
With postponement, the government will have “more time” to fully implement the provisions and programs under the SK Reform Act, or Republic Act (RA) 10742, the legislator said.
“For instance, RA 10742 calls for the creation of a training fund worth P50 million to be used for the mandatory training of SK officials. But these trainings cannot take place this year given the 2016 GAA (general appropriations act) does not provide any such training funds,” he explained.
Senators Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel and Alan Peter Cayetano said that the bill would ensure no delays in new projects and appointments, as well as in the government’s aggressive campaign against illegal drugs.
During the election period, the President is barred from appointing officials, Senate President Pimentel said.
“To hold said elections now would complicate matters concerning the government’s crackdown on illegal drugs, especially if barangay officials linked to the said illicit activities will claim political motivations/election-related reasons behind such accusations,” Cayetano said adding that prohibited drugs have penetrated 98 percent of the 1,611 barangays in Metro Manila.
Meanwhile, senators Ralph Recto and RisaHontiveros voted against the postponement of the barangay and SK elections.
Recto maintained there is no lack of funds for the polls because the government is set to spend more than the current P7 billion needed to hold the SK and barangay polls this year.
Hontiveros said that postponing the elections would send “the wrong signal that the government is not sincere in including the youth in governing the country.”
SBN 1112 was coauthored by senators Cayetano, Leila de Lima, Loren Legarda, Joel Villanueva, Cynthia Villar and Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri./PN
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