BARANGAY AND SK ELECTIONS | Marcos signs into law postponing barangay and SK polls to next year

October 12, 2022 , 10:24 PM

By Clarist Zablan

(October 12, 2022) – President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has signed into law postponing the election of new sets of barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) leaders to next year, his office said on Wednesday.

The law was signed on Monday but published only in the Official Gazette two days later, Republic Act 11935 has set the synchronized Barangay and SK Elections on the last Monday of October 2023 and every three years thereafter.
All incumbent barangay and SK officials will retain their position on a holdover period until then, the law stated.

Reacting to the move, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) chairman George Garcia said they will comply with the law, adding that they will continue the voters’ registration and revisit their existing and planned procurement contracts related to the elections.

The poll body plans to release an announcement on the adjustment of their calendar of activities due to the postponement “at the soonest possible time,” he said.

“For now, we shall continue with our preparations for the BSKE (Barangay and SK Elections),” Garcia said. “We hope that hopefuls for barangay and SK positions and the voting public would also take this time to prepare and reflect on their rights and duties which they will exercise through their ballots and eventual offices.”

“As I have said before, the COMELEC shall comply with the law,” giit naman ni Commission on Elections Chairman George Garcia. #News5

RELATED POST: https://t.co/juTsdxrd14 pic.twitter.com/fI7pGTXJyI

— News5 (@News5PH) October 12, 2022

The new local leaders will assume office on November 30.

Some of the law’s proponents initially said the postponement would help save funds for the poll body that can be used to augment the country’s coronavirus response. However, the Commission on Election (Comelec) is an independent constitutional body that keeps fiscal autonomy and the funds are automatically and regularly released.

Comelec spokesman Rex Laudiangco has also disputed this, noting that the poll body will need at least P18 billion to cover the tax and additional honoraria of poll workers alone for next year if the elections were moved.

Election watchdogs and progressive groups have opposed the postponement of the elections. The Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) have called the proposed postponement an “attack against grassroots democracy.”

Kabataan Partylist also warned that the postponement could paralyze the operations of many SK nationwide, as the prolonged terms would result in more vacancies.

(MM)

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