The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) is not in favor of postponing the December 5, 2022 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections.

In a statement, the church-based poll watchdog group said the calls to postpone the BSKE seem to "undermine the barangay’s important role and significance in the daily dissemination of basic services to the Filipino people."

PPCRV said although the calls to postpone are not new, a postponement "deprives the citizens not only of the right to affirm and once more vote for the barangay leaders who provided good and dependable leadership and ensured the timely flow of necessary services most especially during the trying times of the pandemic."

"Postponement of the election also deprives citizens of the right and critical need to replace those leaders who did not optimally and adequately exercise their voter-given mandate," said the group.

PPCRV said the postponement of the Sangguniang Kabataan elections also stifles the right to participate of youth leaders and to vote for other youth leaders.

The group questioned the reason offered for the proposed postponement which is to allow time for the nation to heal after the May 2022 elections.

"How can the deprivation of the democratic right to vote and choose leaders in the timeline mandated and scheduled by law become a means of healing?" PPCRV said.

As to the proposed reallocation of the P8.2 billion funds earmarked for the BSKE to Covid-responsive programs, the group said, the choice to fund the essential Covid program should not "preclude a nation’s right to cast a vote for or against their community leaders in accordance with the mandated schedule."