Comelec: Barangay, SK polls to push through

EDITORIAL

Aspirants who are planning to run during the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections may file their candidacies as polls would be held on Oct. 25.

Commission on Elections Chairman Jose Melo announced Wednesday lawmakers agreed during a meeting at Malacañang last Tuesday to go on with the elections and the electoral body was ready.

The Comelec is also preparing for the holding of Electoral Registration Board (ERB) hearings on the list of voters. The ERB will look into oppositions filed against the applications for registration of certain voters. Through the procedure, the Comelec hopes to weed out voters with double or multiple registrations.

In Congress, the committee on suffrage and electoral reforms voted 22-15 to indefinitely suspend deliberations on 29 bills seeking to delay barangay and SK elections despite complaints of House Minority Leader Edcel Lagman that the opposition bloc House was left out of the deliberations.

Opposition members said the people were duped after they were made to believe the House wanted the polls postponed to save money and reduce divisiveness. They said the committee ignored his motion to vote on a consolidated bill aimed to suspend the barangay and SK elections.

Critics however said the opposition wanted the polls delayed so barangay and SK officials who were elected during the Arroyo administration would remain in power.

Pro-administration lawmakers denied that they were following the desires of the President saying their efforts will be useless if the House, the Senate and the President do not agree on something.

With this, House Deputy Majority Leader Janet Garin said they have no more time to discuss and pass a law postponing the barangay and SK elections as they don’t have time. Now, characters of all types may file their candidacies.