Kabataan rep urges voters to register for barangay, SK polls

Kabataan Rep. Raoul Manuel (Photo from his Facebook account)

MANILA, Philippines — Rep. Raoul Manuel of the Kabataan party-list group calls on all eligible voters to register for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections in December.

Voters, especially the youth, should not wait until 2028 — the midterm elections — to exercise their right to vote, which would usher in a new age of politics, Manuel said on Tuesday.

Though as ushering in a new age of politics can be started by participating in the barangay elections.

Kabataan party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel on Tuesday said that Filipinos, especially the youth, should not wait

“Let’s start pushing for a politics of hope and change in our communities, and a big part of this is electing local officials who will stand up for and serve the interests of the youth and who will not just follow trapos [a Filipino term for traditional politicians] and dynasties already in place,” Manuel said.

According to Manuel, Sangguniang Kabataan empowerment bill, which Kabataan is supporting, includes provisions that would ensure that elected barangay officials would act professionally and that SK members would act as independent leaders of the community.

The bill should also ensure that elections would be conducted, he said — “so that new leaders will emerge and the youth can evaluate them before voting for them.”

Voter registration for the barangay and SK elections started on Monday, July 4.

The Commission on Elections does not see any hindrance to holding the elections this year, though they have been postponed several times previously.

Last May, then-Senate President Vicente Sotto III that the polls should continue as it seemed that hold-over barangay officials were serving longer terms than a president.

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—WITH A REPORT FROM ANDY HOO (TRAINEE)