House votes on 2nd reading to move village, SK polls to October
The House of Representatives on Wednesday voted to approve on second reading a bill postponing the May 2018 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections from May 14 to Oct. 8, 2018.
House Bill 7378 came from the bills filed by Reps. Reynaldo Umali, Johnny Ty Pimentel, Jose Panganiban Jr., and Edgar Sarmiento.
Under the proposed measure, subsequent village polls should be held on the second Monday of October 2021 and every three years thereafter.
Just last Monday, the House suffrage and electoral reforms committee voted to approve the postponement of the elections.
The barangay and SK elections were originally scheduled for Oct. 31, 2016 and were later moved to Oct. 23, 2017 and then May 14, 2018.
Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III earlier said he could no longer see any reason to postpone again the polls, while Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III said the proposed postponement lacked time and support by majority members.
Following the bills approval on second reading, the bill would then be calendared for third reading to be followed by a voting before the plenary.
If approved, the bill would then be submitted to Senate.
