By Genalyn Kabiling
Two new laws on the postponement of the 2020 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections and the establishment of Malasakit Centers in government hospitals have been signed by President Duterte.
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte (ROBINSON NIÑAL JR./PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
Under Republic Act No. 11462, the government will move the May 2020 village and youth elections to December 5, 2022. The subsequent barangay and SK elections will be held on the first Monday of December 2025 and every three years thereafter.
Republic Act No. 11463, on the other hand, institutionalizes the Malasakit Centers in public hospitals run by the Department of Health. The measure, authored by Senator Christopher Go, establishes these one-stop facilities to give patients better and more convenient access to government medical aid.
The two laws were signed by the President at a ceremony in Malacañang on Tuesday night.
Among the government officials present at the ceremony were Senate President Vicente Sotto III, Senators Imee Marcos, Cynthia Villar, Francis Tolentino, Ronald dela Rosa, and Ramon Revilla, House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez, and Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea.