There is something unsettling about spending billions of pesos to prepare for elections, being 95 percent ready, and then facing proposals to postpone them.

Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said during the Kapihan sa Manila Hotel last week that around ₱8 billion would go to waste if the Nov. 2 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections are rescheduled anew.

Despite pending proposals in both chambers of Congress to postpone the polls, which cited the energy crisis caused by the Middle East war among the reasons, Garcia said Comelec remains fully committed and is now 95 percent ready to hold the elections.

The ₱8 billion already spent is significant. But the greater issue is what postponements do to democratic accountability. Elections are not merely a matter of administrative scheduling. They are part of the constitutional exercise of the people's right to choose their leaders.

The Supreme Court made this clear when it declared unconstitutional Republic Act 11935, which postponed the 2022 barangay and SK elections. The Court said election postponement must be supported by “important, substantial, or compelling” reasons.

Malacañang has said that any proposal citing the energy crisis as justification for postponing the elections would have to establish a clear basis for such a move.

The National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL), meanwhile, has called for the proposals to be rejected, saying that “regular, predictable leadership cycles are the ultimate check and balance in Philippine grassroots governance” and that “regular elections are not an administrative convenience the State may suspend when budgets tighten.”

Indeed, elected officials should not be allowed to remain in office simply because lawmakers decide that elections can wait. Postponement is especially difficult to justify when Comelec says it is already 95 percent ready with more than two months to go before election day.

The holding of elections matters enormously at the barangay level. People dissatisfied with their barangay officials should not have to endure further delays before having an opportunity to replace them.

Although elections for officials of the country's 42,000 barangays and the SK have been postponed several times in the past, these exercises remain eagerly awaited because they give citizens their most direct opportunity to choose the people who will govern their communities.

The barangay is often treated as the smallest and least consequential unit of government. Yet barangay officials play a critical role in nation-building, poverty alleviation, local development, delivery of basic services, peace and order, and many other functions that provide local solutions to national problems.

As Section 384 of the Local Government Code of 1991 states, the barangay is the basic political unit and the primary planning and implementing unit of government policies, programs, and projects in the community. It is also a forum where citizens' collective views can be expressed and disputes amicably settled.

The SK is equally important for young Filipinos seeking greater involvement in their communities. It is supposed to give them an early opportunity to participate in governance and develop leadership skills. Its history, however, has been uneven, with the institution acquiring a reputation as a training ground for corruption and a “nursery” for political dynasties.

The SK Reform Act of 2016, RA 10742, sought to restore the institution's purpose and effectiveness in harnessing youth leadership in local governance. Among other reforms, it introduced an anti-political dynasty provision barring relatives of elected or appointed officials up to the second degree of consanguinity from seeking SK posts. It also raised the age of SK officials from 15-17 to 18-24 and required leadership training as well as instruction in good governance and fiscal accountability.

The reforms addressed problems that had emerged after a 2002 amendment to the Local Government Code lowered the age of SK officials from 15-21 to 15-17, effectively making them all minors and leaving them vulnerable to manipulation by older politicians.

The SK, however, started on a sound footing. During my first term as senator, I helped chair Book III of the Local Government Code in the Congressional Bicameral Conference Committee. The SK provisions incorporated into the Code were based on a separate bill I had filed, spelling out the structure, qualifications, tenure, powers and duties of its officers.

These provisions were consistent with Article II, Section 13 of the Constitution, which recognizes the vital role of the youth in nation-building and calls on the state to encourage their involvement in public and civic affairs.

That constitutional principle remains as relevant today as ever. Young Filipinos are the largest voting bloc. They should be given opportunities to become responsible participants in governance and, eventually, leaders in their own right.

The Nov. 2 elections should therefore proceed unless there is a genuine security threat, natural disaster or other force majeure circumstance that makes voting impossible.

Elections are not a luxury that can be set aside whenever circumstances become inconvenient. They are the mechanism by which citizens hold their leaders accountable. At the barangay level, that principle should be non-negotiable.

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