Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga. FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — The substitute bill postponing the 2022 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections — which was approved by the House of Representatives’ committee on suffrage and electoral reforms — does not need to go through the House appropriations committee anymore according to a lawmaker.
After the substitute bill was approved by the committee on Thursday, Cavite 4th District Rep. Elpidio Barzaga asked why the bill would need to go through the committee on appropriations also when the suspension will not involve any budget preparations.
Barzaga raised this point after another member in Quezon City 3rd District Rep. Franz Pumaren asked if the bill would already be tackled in the plenary by Tuesday or August 30. In reply, Committee chairperson and Mountain Province Rep. Maximo Dalog said that it would go through the committee on appropriations first.
“Well I understand that the bill will be merely for the postponement of the elections, and therefore if this will be for postponement, no expenditure has to be spent insofar as the postponement is concerned,” Barzaga said.
The Cavite lawmaker stressed that discussions on the next elections’ budget should revolve around the proposed 2023 national budget, which the Department of Budget and Management handed over to the House last Monday.
“However, although the elections would proceed on December 5 next year, that would be the subject matter of the present (proposed) budget, because I do not know whether or not the Comelec has a budget for elections next year considering that the budget right now is for the present barangay elections scheduled on December 5 this year,” Barzaga said.
“If the elections will be held next year, then that would be appropriate for the budget preparations that we are discussing right now. I don’t think we have to make a separate appropriation in so far as the bill canceling, postponing the election is concerned because there would be no expense incurred,” he added.
However, Barzaga also said that he is leaving the decision up to the House leaders.
Earlier, the committee approved the consolidation of over 35 bills seeking the postponement of the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections, originally scheduled on December 5, 2022.
At least 14 lawmakers voted yes to the motion, with none of the members present objecting to the proposal. However, during the last hearing, Kabataan party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel already opposed
The committee heeded the Commission on Elections (Comelec) request that the said polls would not be rescheduled later than December 2023, as the poll body would already be preparing for the 2025 midterm elections once 2024 kicks in.
Comelec also called on Congress to approve the bill immediately, if they see the need to postpone the said elections, as they would have to prepare soon if the elections are to push through.
READ: House panel OKs bills postponing barangay, SK elections in December