COMMISSION on Elections Chairman Juan Andres Bautista reiterated Tuesday his call to postpone the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections because of election fatigue.
He suggested holding those elections simultaneously with the selection of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention being proposed by President-elect Rodrigo Duterte.
“If we will also have an election to select ConCon members, and we have this barangay and SK elections, maybe it would be better if they would just be held together at the same time,” Bautista said in a radio interview.
He said his suggestion, if allowed, would be beneficial as it will save money.
“Holding elections is costly. For the Barangay and SK elections alone, it will cost us three billion to four billion pesos to hold it,” he said.
Bautista is pushing for the postponement of the Barangay and SK elections, which are set for October this year, because of “election fatigue” since the country had just concluded the May national and local elections.
Duterte, on the other hand, wants a Constitutional Convention to start his administration’s plan to shift to a federal system of government.
But he does not support the Comelec’s bid to postpone the Oct. 31 Barangay and SK elections because he does not want to extend the terms of incumbent barangay officials.
Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon is also not in favor of rescheduling the barangay elections.