Senate starts deliberations on postponement of barangay, SK polls

AFTER getting the support of 22 senators,  the  Senate on  Tuesday   began plenary deliberations on a measure postponing for another year the  barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections  scheduled for October 31, 2016.

Only two senators – Senate President  Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III and  Senator Alan Peter Cayetano – did not  sign the report prepared by the Senate  committees on local government,  electoral reforms and people’s  participation, and finance.

The  committee report  was transmitted to the plenary for  deliberations.

Senator  Sonny Angara, chairman of  the committee on local  government, said the postponement will allow more time for the full implementation of the recently enacted SK Reform Act or Republic Act 10742.

“We clearly hear the voices of those who are against the proposal. Naiintindihan po namin ang hinaing ng kabataan na tatlong taon nang hindi nakakaboto ng [mga miyembro ng] SK. Pero klaro rin po sa amin na sa iilang mahahalagang aspeto, hindi pa po handa ang gobyerno para maimplimenta ang RA 10742,” he said in his sponsorship speech of Senate Bill 1112.

The SK reform, he said, was signed into law last January, and its implementing rules and regulations were only approved in July.

Angara, however, pointed out that there are no funds available yet for the mandatory training, which is worth P50 million, adding that no barangay was prepared to conduct such training primarily because no training module has been created, tested or fine-tuned.

The senator also said that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) had set the special registration for SK polls for a little over two weeks only — from July 15 to 30 or half of the minimum period mandated by RA 10742.

“Sa madaling salita po, pagdating sa pag-implementa ng SK Reform Act, may gatas pa sa labi ang gobyerno. Siguraduhin sana muna natin na maiimplimenta nang tama ang SK Reform Act,”  he said.

According to Angara, another reason why the polls  should  be  moved to a later date was  to avoid  “election fatigue.”

“As early as May this year, Comelec Chair Andy Bautista said he would ask Congress for the postponement, citing election fatigue as the foremost reason,” he said.

“For a number of us, the memory of the May 2016 elections is still fresh. And while we may have differing recollections of what transpired, I’m sure we all remember the exercise to be particularly energetic and engaging.”

Angara said pushing through with the barangay polls this year could also break the momentum of President Rodrigo Duterte’s war against drugs, criminality and corruption.

Assigning election-related duties to the Philippine National Police (PNP), which deploys 90 per cent of their personnel during elections, would effectively limit the PNP’s capacity to solve the drug problem, said the senator.

“At the same time, barangay officials play an important role in the country’s anti-criminality campaign. Having them engage in elections—a politically partisan exercise—would just be another way we distract or delay their resolve to face down the drug scourge,” the senator said.

Angara  then urged the Senate to immediately act on the bill  since  it already has the support of the House of Representative and the President  himself.

“Kaya sa tingin ko po, ‘wag na po natin upuan at ipagpaliban ang desisyon dito. Hiniling din po ng Comelec na klaruhin natin ang paninidigan natin bago mag-September 1,” he said.

The Comelec has already  suspended the printing of ballots  following Duterte’s statement that he was in favor of  postponing this year’s polls./rga

READ: Comelec stops printing ballots