The proposal to postpone the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE), scheduled Dec. 5 this year to Dec. 4, 2023, was approved yesterday during the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms hearing.
Only two of the 14 committee members voted against the proposal to postpone the BSKE.
Negros Occidental 4th District Rep. Juliet Marie Ferrer was among the 12 who voted in favor of the measure, which aims to divert the funds to help those who have been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The committee also approved the motion to set the tenure of those elected in the Dec. 2023 polls and other elections, thereafter, for three years.
Comelec chairperson George Garcia, in a statement, welcomed the poll postponement to next year, which he described as the “best option”, noting that 2024 is too close to the next midterm elections.
“We, at the Comelec, we will just abide by the mandate of Congress and the Executive as far as postponing the election is concerned, whether it be May of 2023, December of 2023, and not in 2024 because by that time, we will be preparing for the 2025 elections,” Garcia said in a statement.
He also asked lawmakers to act swiftly in crafting the law on the BSKE’s postponement.
Garcia said a new law would give the Comelec an accurate direction as to the next steps it would take, which would include the continuation of the voters’ registration or halting the ongoing preparations for the polls set for Dec. 5 this year.
However, the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) does not support pushing back again the BSKE.
In a statement, PPCRV said that BSKE and COVID-19 response are both key priorities with their respective budget allocations and the importance of one should not be made the reason for diminishing and deprioritizing the other.
The PPCRV said postponement deprives the citizens not only of the right to vote for community leaders but also of the critical need to replace those who do not adequately exercise their mandates.
The law mandates that BSKE be held every three years on the first Monday of December. The last barangay and SK elections were held on May 14, 2018./GB, PNA
