Group wants barangay polls postponed to 2012

MANILA, Philippines - Liga ng mga Barangay president Ricojudge Echiverri said yesterday his group is seeking the postponement of barangay elections in October to the same month in 2012.

Echiverri said apart from the hectic schedule of barangay leaders, a huge amount of money is also needed to push through with the barangay elections in October considering that the country has yet to recover from the just-concluded May polls.

Echiverri said October is a very busy month for barangay officials because the Department of the Interior and Local Government requires them to attend seminars and trainings on how to become effective leaders of their respective areas.

He said the barangay is the only local government unit that performs three functions of government – executive, legislative, and judicial – on the grassroots level.

“Hence, the current integration of the incumbent barangay officials would be untimely severed if the elections were to be held in October 2010,” Echiverri said in a statement.

Echiverri said that a resolution approved by 119 district presidents of the national barangay league had already been passed to both houses of Congress and the camp of president-elect Benigno Aquino III.

Echiverri said they hope lawmakers and Aquino would agree to the request of their group, which represents the country’s 42,000 barangay chiefs.