Senator-elect Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito on Tuesday, June 28 said proposals to postpone the upcoming Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Elections are justified noting how the incoming Marcos administration needs to prioritize other immediate concerns, particularly the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the government’s attempt to full economic recovery.
“The incoming administration will be facing a lot of challenges. So, I think that makes sense, yung postponement, probably for a year, kasi katatapos lang ng eleksyon (because we had just finished holding elections), and we can use that budget for other immediate matters,” Ejercito said in an interview.
The next barangay and SK Elections are scheduled for December this year, after President Duterte signed Republic Act (RA) 11462, which effectively postponed the May 2020 barangay and SK polls.
But fresh proposals to postpone the barangay and SK elections are once more being floated in the House of Representatives and the Senate due to the country’s ongoing pandemic and economic woes.
Vice President-elect Sara Duterte-Carpio has also recently expressed her support for calls to postpone the upcoming barangay and SK Elections.
Ejercito, who is expected to chair the Senate Committee on Local Government in the 19th Congress, said he is in favor of extending the term of barangay and SK officials to four years.
“Para sa akin, three years is really short. Four years, probably, tulad nung dating setup (Similar to the previous setup). Kung five, masyado nang mahaba. It depends. Five years is too long for a non-performing official,” he said.
Once he assumes the chairmanship of the Local Government panel, Ejercito said he will hold hearings to review these proposals.
“Well, that can be studied kasi katatapos lang ng (we just held) national and local elections. That entailed a lot of expenses for the government. Probably, it can be considered. Of course, magkakaroon tayo ng hearing diyan (we will have a hearing on that), on the postponement. We’ll weigh the pros and cons,” he said.