REP. Sherwin Tugna said Sunday Congress may not be able to approve the postponement of the October barangay elections before it adjourns sine die on June 2.
He said there was a need to thoroughly discuss the three proposed laws on the elections’ postponement and the sensitivity of appointing new barangay officials.
“As chairman of the committee on suffrage and electoral reforms, I believe the lower house will not be able to finish the deliberations on the pending bills until adjournment,” Tugna said.
“The reason is, the issue of the postponement and appointment of barangay officials should be thoroughly deliberated.”
Tugna promised to scrutinize the three proposed bills seeking to postpone the barangay elections in October, saying he was committed to ensuring that the proposals were rational and constitutional.
The three proposals”•House Bills 5359, 5361 and 5380″•were authored by Reps. Robert Ace Barbers of Surigao del Norte, Lord Allan Velasco of Marinduque and Jose Panganiban Jr. of ANAC-IP, respectively.
Barbers, chairman of the House committee on dangerous drugs, backed President Rodrigo Duterte’s proposal to cancel the barangay elections and to appoint new barangay officials.
Duterte said if the elections proceeded as scheduled, drug lords could possibly finance the candidates.
“I personally think that the smartest move would be to delay the elections once again and to appoint incorruptible officers in charge who could help us traverse the road to recovery, the road to a drug-free Philippines, Barbers said.
“But how will the barangays spearhead this war against illegal drugs if there are some barangay officials who are protectors of drug lords?”