SPEAKER Pantaleon Alvarez said Wednesday postponing the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections until next year will give Congress enough time to enact laws abolishing the SK and the position of barangay kagawad.
“If we move the [barangay] elections to 2017, I think we have enough time to amend the Local Government Code so that by 2017—if Congress will agree [to] my proposal to abolish the barangay kagawads and the SK —we will be only electing the barangay chairmen,” Alvarez said in a television interview.
He also noted that Malacañang supports the postponement of the barangay and SK elections amid concerns drug money may be used to ensure the victory of barangay officials.
On the other hand, if the barangay and SK elections scheduled for next month will push through, Alvarez said reorganizing the government structure in the local level might have to wait out of respect for the mandate of the newly-elected officials whose term would extend up to 2019.
Alvarez said this would also free up an estimated P24 billion that the government can use instead to increase the pay of purok leaders, barangay health workers, barangay tanods and day care workers.
He noted the estimated annual budget for the SK is around P8.5 billion while that for barangay kagawads reaches around P15.8 billion.
Alvarez said purok leaders, barangay health workers, barangay tanods and day care workers are the ones who are really working in earnest to deliver services to the residents of their village, yet they receive very little pay.
Earlier, Alvarez said postponing the elections would allow the Executive department to fill up vacant government positions and enable the government to continue work on infrastructure projects, which are not allowed during the election period.