The House of Representatives' Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms on Tuesday approved the bill postponing the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections from May 2020 to May 2023.
The committee, chaired by Negros Occidental Rep. Juliet Marie de Leon Ferrer, moved to consolidate the 37 measures that propose to defer the holding of the polls.
The preferred date of the holding of the barangay and SK elections is to give time for the Commission on Elections to prepare for it one year after the scheduled presidential elections in 2022.
Congressmen who filed their respective versions of the measure welcomed the move of the committee and expressed optimism that Congress will be able to prioritize its enactment.
Deputy Speaker and Batangas Rep. Raneo Abu in his House Bill 1571 said postponement of the elections is necessary "to allow incumbent barangay officials to continue implementing the various policies and programs of the Duterte administration."
Abu proposed the postponement of barangay elections in May 2020 to October 2022.
Abu earlier said the postponement of the barangay elections would be in support of President Rodrigo Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs.
Deputy Speaker and Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte filed House Bill 2551 which proposes the holding of barangay and SK elections to October 2022 to allow the local officials to provide "efficient delivery of services for the people." In his bill, Villafuerte proposed the holding of the elections three years thereafter.
Villafuerte said the postponement of the barangay and SK elections would be beneficial to Comelec officials and employees, teachers and all others who were involved in the May 2022 elections as well as to all the voters.
For his part, Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Jay Velasco, in his House Bill 1071, sought the postponement of the elections from May 2020 to October 2022.
Velasco said extending the terms of barangay and SK officials will be more coherent with the provisions of law and will ultimately redound to the effective allocation of resources and services towards nation-building.
Velasco, who is to take over the post of House speaker from Taguig Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano in the next 13 months, said it is imperative to postpone the upcoming May 2020 barangay and SK elections anew. It would extend barangay and SK officials' term to a more plausible tenure of four years.
“This bill would rectify the shortened term of barangay and SK officials,” Velasco said.
The Marinduque lawmaker noted that under the Local Government Code, the term of office of barangay officials and SK members should be for three years. However, with the enactment of Republic Act No. 10952, the synchronized barangay and SK elections were moved to the second Monday of May 2018.
“Unwittingly, the elected barangay and SK officials in 2018 are now constrained to serve for only a two-year term in stark contrast to the mandate of the Local Government Code and to the detriment of project and program implementation that would benefit the Filipino people,” Velasco said.
The bill seeks to amend Republic Act 9164, as amended by Republic Act 9340, Republic Act 10632, Republic Act 10656, Republic Act 10923 and Republic Act 10952.