Barangay, SK elections to push through October 25

It’s now final. Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections will push through as scheduled on October 25.

This, after the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms voted to lay on the table all bills seeking to defer the holding of the elections in the country’s 42,000 barangay units.

The vote of 22 members of the House panel, many of them officials of the majority bloc, killed all 26 bill and resolutions for postponement that were filed by over 30 congressmen. A total 15 committee members opposed the motion to shelve the legislative proposals.

Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga, committee chairman, said that as a result of the voting, all bills and resolutions filed by congressmen will no longer be acted upon because committee proceedings have been “suspended indefinitely.”

Minority Leader Edcel Lagman bewailed the alleged bid to derail House action on the bills as he accused leaders of committing “treason” against the chamber.

“I thought there were only eight hostages killed. There is now a ninth victim, the bills. Treason has been committed against the House and this committee,” stated Lagman as the committee adjourned Wednesday’s hearing.

Barzaga said President Aquino had influenced leaders of Congress to abandon their previous position supporting the cancellation of the October 25 polls. This was confirmed by Sen. Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., chairman of the Senate local governments committee, who had a meeting with the President in Malacañang Tuesday morning.

In a meeting with Congress leaders on Tuesday, Aquino reportedly prevailed upon solons to vote down any bill that would postpone the elections.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. headed the House contingent to the meeting.

“Mr. Aquino wants elections to push through because he wants barangay officials who will serve during his term to have a fresh mandate from the people,” said Barzaga.

Key Malacañang allies, mostly ex-officio committee members who head the House majority, went all out to derail the bills when they pursued the motion to lay on the table the discussions on the pending bill.

The move overruled an earlier agreement by the House panel to make a vote on whether or not barangay and SK elections should be deferred.

“Technically, laying down on the table means all proceedings pertaining to the bills are suspended indefinitely,” said Barzaga as he admitted that this means the proposals are considered dead.

Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, a member of the majority bloc, decried the committee decision to disregard the agreement to vote on the pending bills.

“It was our agreement, we voted on it,” Rodriguez protested.

It was Valenzuela Rep. Magtanggol Gunigundo who pursued the Malacañang line by moving to defer consideration of the bills.

Supporting him were a cast of pro-Malacañang solons led by Deputy Speaker Lorenzo Tañada II.

Meanwhile, Camarines Sur Rep. Elmer Panotes said costly and highly-volatile elections for barangay and SK officials can be avoided by allowing mayors to appoint barangay chairmen and other officials of the community.

Panotes, a four-time mayor of Daet, said that instead of debating on whether or not barangay and SK elections must be deferred, legislators should pursue the passage of a bill that would amend the Local Government Code to empower local chief executives to appoint them instead.

The neophyte solon explained that his proposal should be considered as a pragmatic approach to funding problems that usually confront government and even local politicians whenever barangay and SK elections approach.

“If mayors will be allowed to appoint just two officials to take care of all the affairs of one barangay, government will be able to save at least P4 to P5 billion by not holding an election. Billions more earmarked for salaries of officials will be translated into more money to be allocated for direct services for the people,” he said.

Panotes also said that conflicts brought about by political contests will be avoided, paving the way for people of a certain barangay to work together in achieving progress in the community.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) felt relieved that the October 25 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections is finally pushing through.

“It’s a big relief for the Comelec that this issue (on postponement) has finally been resolved. At least we can now focus on preparing for October 25,” Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento said in an interview. (With reports from Mario B. Casayuran and Leslie Ann G. Aquino)

source:mb