SK polls finally set in October 2016

CEBU, Philippines - It’s final. The Sangguniang Kabataan election will be held in October 2016.

President Benigno Aquino III signed into a law yesterday the bill postponing anew the SK election, slated for April 25, 2015, to the last Monday of October 2016, in sync with the barangay elections, the Commission on Elections reported yesterday.

Lawyer Ferdinand Gujilde, Comelec-Cebu election officer, said he was informed through a text message by provincial election supervisor Lionel Marco Castillano that House Bill 5209, now Republic Act 10656, which resets the SK election to 2016, was finally approved by Aquino.

The Office of the Pre-sident received the enrolled bill on March 4.

“The President has spoken. We are so relieved, because we can now set our sides on the 2016 presidential elections,” Gujilde told reporters.

This is the second time that Aquino postponed the youth council elections, the first being in 2013 through Republic Act 10632. The SK election was originally slated October 2013 but was postponed to February 21, 2015.

But the Comelec again reset the SK election to April 25, 2015 by virtue of Comelec Re-solution No. 9930, promulgated February 5, 2015.

Under the Omnibus Election Code, Comelec has the authority to move the elections when holding of a “free, orderly, and honest election” is hampered by “analogous causes.”

Comelec earlier pointed out as “analogous cause” the slowdown in preparations for the SK elections considering that it is likely to be postponed to October 2016.

The postponement of 2013 SK election was made to pave way for Congress to legislate reforms, but until now no reform has been enacted.

Gujilde said postponing the SK election to 2016 would now give the Congress enough time to introduce reforms.

“This is also for the Katipunan ng Kabataan, which will compose the SK, to prove that SK deserves another chance,” he added.

With this development, the National Youth Commission has reiterated its call to fast track the passage of the SK Reform Bill into law.

The Senate, however, passed on third and final reading last month a measure seeking SK reforms, while the House of Representatives committee on local government approved a counterpart bill January this year.

Among the provisions of the proposed measure is the raising of the age ceiling for would-be members of SK from the current 15 to 17 years old to 18 to 21.

“We are confident that this bill will fix SK and ensure meaningful representation for young people… As Congress resumes on May, we urge our representatives in Congress to deliver as they promised,” NYC Chairperson Gio Tingson said in a statement posted on NYC’s official website.  (FREEMAN)