Senate passes bill to postpone barangay, SK elections

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate approved on third and final reading a bill postponing the synchronized barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections to December 5, 2022.

Voting 21-0, senators passed Senate Bill 1043 on Monday. The bill sought to hold the village and youth polls in 2022 and conduct subsequent elections every three years.

The bill initially proposed to have the barangay and SK elections on the second Monday of May 2023 but senators found the five-year extension of office of current leaders “too long.”

Following the December 22 schedule, the subsequent synchronized village and youth polls will be held on the first Monday of December 2025 and every after three years.

Under the proposed measure, the elected officials will assume office at noon of January 1, 2023.

Meanwhile, the House panel on suffrage and electoral reforms approved its committee report on bills seeking to reschedule the barangay and SK elections.

During his fourth State of the Nation Address speech, President Rodrigo Duterte asked lawmakers to reschedule the polls slated in May next year.

If the proposals become a law, it will be the third time since 2016 that the village and youth polls will be postponed. — Gaea Katreena Cabico