Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III. (File photo from Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III sees no reason to postpone again the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections set in May 2018.
“Wala nga ako maisip. Kaya nga hindi ako nag-file ng postponement eh, dahil kung may naisip talaga ko na reason, ipapa-postpone ko rin. Pero wala eh,” Pimentel told reporters on Monday.
[I can’t think of any more reasons. That’s why I didn’t file any proposal for postponement, because if I can find a reason, I will have it postponed. But there’s none.
“I mean handa na yata lahat eh. Handa na Comelec [Commission on Elections]. Handa na yung mga nakaupo. .Yung mga botante, yung mga ayaw nilang kapitan gusto na nila ng halalan para palitan,” he added.
[I mean I think everything’s ready. The Comelec is ready. Those already in position are ready. The voters are ready to have an election so that they can replace the captains that they don’t want.]
His statement comes after Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel and Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali have filed separate bills at the House of Representatives to postpone the local elections for the third time.
Johnny seeks to move the local elections to October 2018, while Umali wants to suspend the elections until May 2019.
The barangay and SK elections were originally scheduled for October 2016 and was later moved to October 2017 and again reset to May 2018.
“Well, nasa House po yan,” Pimentel said. “Dito sa Senate wala ko alam na may nag-file. Pag pumasa sa House yan, ipapasa dito [sa Senate] then idi-discuss namin.”
[Well, that’s up to the House. Here in the Senate I don’t know of anyone who filed a proposal to postpone. If that passes in the House, they would send it here and then we’ll discuss it.]
Pimentel likewise said that the proposal would face scrutiny at the Senate, and its passage would not be likely as there are only 12 session days left.
“Dito sa Senate mabigat na diskusyon po yan. Yung last postponement nga nahirapan na kami na ilusot eh,” he said. “Dapat mabigat ang dahilan to postpone elections.”
[That’s a serious discussion here in the Senate. We actually found it hard to pass the last postponement. There has to be a really serious reason to postpone the elections.]
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon bared Sunday that there is an attempt to “railroad” the charter change proposal by postponing the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections, during which a plebiscite on a new Constitution would also be held.
But Pimentel said a separate plebiscite on constitutional amendments could be held, as it is a “stand-alone electoral exercise.‘ /atm