SB favors one-year term extension of barangay, SK officials

MANILA, Philippines - Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. yesterday expressed support for extending the term of barangay officials and those of the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) by one year.

“I think a one-year extension is reasonable,” Belmonte told reporters.

He said a three-year extension would be too much and that he would oppose it.

Belmonte said the election of village officials in October “is too close to the last presidential elections on May 10 and the coffers of the government are not exactly in the best shape.”

Belmonte said the House would act on proposals to postpone the barangay and SK polls as soon as it completes the organization of its committees next week.

“We have to decide as soon as possible since October is fast approaching,” he stressed.

He added that there are more than a dozen postponement proposals now pending referral to the concerned committees.

Scores of congressmen are seeking to postpone the October polls principally because of the large amount of expenses involved, which they put at between P3 billion and P5 billion.

Such amount would be a big drain on the coffers of the government at a time when it is facing a huge budget deficit and is in fact borrowing funds to finance its operations, they said.

Lawmakers noted that the government had just spent more than P7 billion for last May’s elections.

Belmonte also said the Reproductive Health Bill, which advocates family planning, would be “discussed and brought to fruition” under his leadership.

“But I cannot predict the outcome of the discussions and the vote on this controversial bill,” he said.

Minority Leader Edcel Lagman (Albay) has re-filed the measure. He has expressed optimism that Belmonte would support it since Quezon City had adopted a family planning resolution when the Speaker was its mayor.

The House in the previous Congress failed to approve the bill despite repeated promises from then Speaker Prospero Nograles that he would put it to a vote.

Nograles even set a September 2009 deadline for debates and the subsequent vote but those opposed to family planning successfully frustrated his timetable.

Lagman blamed “failure of leadership” for the inability of the House to finally take a vote on the bill.