The House of Representatives approved on Monday the postponement of the May 14, 2018, synchronized barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections to the second Monday of October 2018.
With 164-27 votes, the lower chamber passed House Bill 7378 calling for the amendment of Republic Act 10952 to effect the polls resetting.
Based on the calendar, the election date falls on October 8, 2018. The barangay and SK elections were so far postponed twice, from October 2016 to October 2017, and then to May 2018.
Rep. Reynaldo V. Umali of the Second District of Oriental Mindoro, one of the principal authors of the bill, said postponing the barangay and SK elections would give lawmakers more time to determine the proper structure of the federal government.
Under the bill, all incumbent barangay officials shall remain on a holdover capacity, unless sooner removed or suspended for cause, until their successors shall have been elected and qualified.
It provides that subsequent synchronized barangay and SK polls shall be held on the second Monday of October 2021 and every three years thereafter.
It also provides that the term of office of the barangay and SK officials elected under the proposed Act shall commence at noon of November 30 following their election.
Meanwhile, the term of office of barangay and SK officials elected in the October 2021 elections and subsequently thereafter, shall start at noon of November 30 following their election.
Until their successors shall have been duly elected and qualified, all incumbent barangay officials shall remain in office, unless sooner removed or suspended for a cause.
Barangay officials who are ex-officio members of the Sangguniang Bayan, Sangguniang Panlungsod or Sangguniang Panlalawigan, as the case may be, shall continue to serve as such members in the Sanggunian concerned until the next barangay election.
The Liga ng mga Barangay at the municipal, city and provincial levels shall, not later than December 31, 2018, conduct elections for ex-officio positions in the Sanggunian under the supervision of the Department of the Interior and Local Government.
The Commission on Elections shall, within 15 days after the effectivity of the Act, promulgate such rules and regulations necessary to implement the Act.
For his part, Rep. Edcel C. Lagman of the First District of Albay voted against the postponement of the barangay and SK elections, saying another postponement is inordinately offensive to the right of suffrage.
“It is not only grossly aggravating. It is also patent recidivism. Elections constitute the bedrock of a democratic republican system. They are the veritable periodic and anticipated political exercise by the sovereign people of retaining or purging the elected officialdom,” he said.
“It is for this reason that the right of suffrage is constitutionally guaranteed. It is equally accorded to both the powerful elite and the marginalized sectors,” he added.
According to Lagman, village elections are held to assure that barangay and youth officials are periodically fortified by the requisite electoral mandate for definite terms of office.
“Twice, the barangay and SK elections have been postponed by the present administration for no overriding reasons, even as in the past village polls were also repeatedly reset,” he said.
“These postponements are mockery of the right of suffrage and subversive of the republican system,” Lagman added.