Barangay polls in 2021 urged to ‘kick out’ inept officials during coronavirus crisis

MANILA, Philippines — A party-list lawmaker on Wednesday called for a barangay election next year so that incompetent officials during the prevailing COVID-19 crisis will be removed from their posts.

According to ACT-CIS Partylist Rep. Jocelyn Tulfo, elections for barangay chairman, councilors, and Sangguniang Kabataan can be held early next year or mid-2021 once the new coronavirus outbreak has passed.

“Waiting for December 5, 2022, for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections would be torture for the millions of Filipinos whose village officials are performing dismally and whose incompetence was exposed during this COVID-19 [crisis],” Tulfo said in a statement.

“For officials who performed well, the early rendering of a new mandate would be the reward and gratitude of the people for exemplary services rendered,” she added.

In December 2019, Duterte approved the postponement of the May 2020 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections to December 2022.

Under the new law, the barangay elections after the December 2022 vote will subsequently take place on the first Monday of December 2025 and every three years thereafter.

But this “mistake”, Tulfo said, can still be corrected.

“Postponing the barangay and SK elections so far into the future in December 2022 was a mistake. Mistakes can be corrected. Let us correct this soon,” she said.

“Having the village elections on December 5, 2022, will only serve to make voters forget about how terrible their incompetent local officials were when they were needed to step up,” she added.

KGA