Having postponed the barangay elections six times since 1988, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto on Friday called on the government to get rid of the national bad habit of frequently scrapping the barangay elections.
He made the statement even as the Commission on Elections reminded the public that only two days remain before the deadline for the voter registration period ends.
The Comelec has recorded at least 2.6 million applicant voters since the start of the registration period on Aug. 1, 2019.
In a statement, the Comelec said that, as of Sept. 21, the total running number of processed applications was now at 2,645,446.
“Tomorrow is the last Saturday of voter registration while the last day is on a Monday, so an influx of registrants is to be expected, Comelec Spokesman James Jimenez said.
“The Comelec has anticipated this, and we are confident that our employees in the field are prepared to handle the last-day registration scenario.”
Recto said the proposed scrapping of the barangay elections scheduled in May 2020 will be the seventh.
If it pushes through, Recto said, it will be the third under the Duterte administration and the first three-peat of its kind in history.
After seven postponements, he believes it is time for durable cures and not band-aid solutions.
Instead of regurgitating the tired old excuses, Recto said, “We should ask ourselves: Ano nga ba ang dahilan bakit parati na lang ito pinagpapaliban?
He emphasized that House and Senate debate records would show that every time a bill of postponement was passed, it was premised on the promise that it would be the last.
“That was the refrain in 1988, 1989, 2002, 2005, 2016, and 2017. Ang “never again ˆ “let me try again,” said Recto.
The result, he said, was an elastic term of office for barangay officials, longer than what they should get.
He said elective officials in this land—from the president down to the barangay captain—had the same employment status: they’re casuals elected to fixed terms. Endo in 6 years for the president and 3 years for the rest, which can only be renewed through the ballot box.
Through the ages, he said, the arguments for postponement could be grouped into three: peace and order, election fatigue, savings.
As to the third, he said, the Comelec price tag of holding a barangay election was almost P6 billion. Ergo, as one back-of-napkin computation showed, if instead of five elections in 15 years there would just be three, the savings was P12 billion.
“This is the reason why I manifested in plenary Tuesday my idea that the Senate should finally tackle the bull by its horns and propose a longer term for barangay officials, Recto said.
Senator Christopher Lawrence Go has always been vocal about his support for the proposed postponement, stating that barangay officials must be given ample time to perform their mandates.
“The barangay officials should not be blamed for the postponement of the past election. they should be given enough time to implement the program for the people they have been serving, he said.
In July, Go filed SB 201, which would give the next elected president and new barangay officials the opportunity to work and accomplish programs together.
“The interval would grant the next elected president and barangay officials the opportunity to work hand in hand and accomplish their projects and programs together,”Go said. With Vito Barcelo