The Senate, voting 21-0, approved Monday on third and final reading a bill postponing the May 11, 2020 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections to December 5, 2022.
This after Senators opposed the alternative proposal to hold the barangay polls on May 8, 2023, opting instead to reset elections on the last month of 2022.
The enabling legislation embodied in Senate Bill No. 1043 was sponsored by neophyte Senator Imee Marcos and passed by unanimous vote.
Initial reports reaching the Senate indicate the House of Representatives was likewise set to pass the counterpart measure adopting the same date to obviate the need to convene a congressional conference committee tasked to reconcile differing provisions in the Senate and House versions, if any.
Senator Marcos, who chairs the Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms, estimated that the Duterte government will be saving about P5-billion from the poll postponement, that could be realigned to bankroll more urgent projects in need of funding.
For instance, she indicated that the unused fund could be tapped by the Department of Agriculture to buy palay in the midst of plunging prices, apart from the Department of Education for its K-to-12 program, as well.
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