Comelec still working for postponement of SK polls

MANILA, Philippines - Although the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections have been set on Feb. 21, 2015, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has not given up its bid to have the youth polls postponed until after the May 2016 elections.

“I am going around, I just came from the Senate last week. We are requesting that the SK election be pushed back preferably to October 2016,” said Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr.

Brillantes said the SK polls would only get in the way of the Comelec’s preparations for the local and national elections in 2016.

The Comelec believes it will be more practical to hold the SK polls in October, to synchronize it again with the barangay elections. 

The agency is also concerned that it will have to suspend the ongoing voter’s registration for the 2016 polls to prepare for the SK elections. 

“We hope it can be done simultaneously with a regular elections because our preparations for 2016 will be interrupted. The holding of the SK elections would push through but we are trying our best to have more leeway,” he added.

The Comelec has been targeting some 9.6 million registered voters who might not be able to vote in 2016 because they have not had their biometrics data included in the poll body’s database.