Postponed SK polls reset to February 2015

Comelec office. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The next Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections will be held on Feb. 21, 2015.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) set the date after President Benigno Aquino III signed on Oct. 3, 2013, Republic Act No. 10632 postponing the SK polls originally set on Oct. 28 that year to allow Congress to reform the much-politicized and graft-tainted youth council.

The law also set Oct. 28, 2014, and Feb. 23, 2015, as the period within which the poll body could set the date for the SK elections.

“In the wake of calls for its abolition, Congress instead voted to postpone the elections in order to have time to pass a law that would either amend or revise the SK system. No such law has been passed, however, and so now the SK elections will have to be held, this time on Feb. 21, 2015,” Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said in a statement.

With the election date set, the Comelec promulgated Resolution No. 9899 setting the date, time and place for registering to vote in the SK polls.

The resolution set the time frame from Sept. 20 to 29, 2014, in the offices of election officers in every city and town.

Those qualified to vote are Filipino citizens 15-17 years old or who shall be 15 on or before Feb. 21, 2015; those who failed to register during the last SK registration period, and those who have resided in their barangay for at least six months by election day.

Jimenez said applicants for registration need to bring any of the following documents: certificate of live birth, baptismal certificate, school records or any document that would establish one’s identity and qualifications.

“If these documents are not available, any person may, under oath, identify the applicant,” Jimenez said.

In a previous interview, Comelec Chair Sixto Brillantes admitted the poll agency was keen on pushing for another postponement of the SK elections prior to the May 2016 presidential and local polls so as not so as not to disrupt their preparations for the larger election.

Brillantes said they would try to have the next SK polls held simultaneously with the regular barangay elections scheduled in October 2016.

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