The two chambers of Congress are asked today whether they are willing to spend P18-billion for Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) elections rescheduled from this coming December to next year.

Senator Imee Marcos, chairman of the Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms and People’s Participation, threw this question to lawmakers following a recent public hearing attended by Commission on Election (Comelec) chairman George Garcia.

“Either we proceed on schedule or Comelec finds a way to bring this exorbitant increase right down,” Marcos said.

The Comelec has pegged the cost of postponing the BSKE to May or December 2023 from P17-billion to P18-billion, more than double the P8.45-billion that will be spent if the polls were held this December.

Citing the repeated postponement of the polls – twice during the 17th Congress, once during the 18th Congress – Marcos said it was “time to think long-term” and floated the idea of holding barangay elections a year after the presidential elections.

“This legislative remedy is possible since the Constitution is silent on the terms of barangay and SK officials. Congress could fix barangay elections every six years – the May following the presidential elections, thereby even providing a new administration with a fresh mandate from the grassroots,” the lady senator said.

Marcos also called for a rethink of the 10-member, barangay-level Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) that constantly lacked full membership.

“Elected teenagers tend to leave mid-term to pursue their education or to work. Others could not even be traced,” Marcos pointed out.

“Let’s not force it at the barangay level. We can instead have one youth kagawad per barangay, one youth councilor at the municipal or city level, and a youth board member per province,” Marcos proposed.

If lawmakers decide to postpone the BSKE to next year, Marcos hopes they would be held in May.

“Polls in December would be inopportune. Local governments could be busy dealing with typhoons while closing their books towards the end of the year,” the senator explained.

“It would also be expensive for those studying or employed in the cities to go back just before the Christmas break to their hometowns where they are registered to vote,” she stressed.