MANILA — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Tuesday reiterated that it will continue to prepare for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) set for May 14, unless a law postponing the polls is passed.
“Without a law postponing it, the BSKE2018 must continue to be considered a ‘go’,” the poll body official added.
Jimenez made the statement after the House of Representatives on Monday passed on the third and final reading the bill postponing the polls to October this year.
“While this move undoubtedly brings us one step closer to a third postponement of the 2018 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections, the Comelec will continue with the work of preparing for polls,” said Jimenez.
The village and youth polls was originally scheduled on October 31, 2016. It was postponed to October 23, 2017 and then to May 14, 2018.
Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III earlier said the postponement of the barangay and SK elections has no chance of passing in the Senate.
Meanwhile, the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) opposed the move to postpone anew the polls.
“The renewed congressional initiative after two postponements is fast becoming a habit and it is not good for our country that proclaims itself as “democratic and republican” (Section 1, Article 1, The 1987 Constitution),” the church-based election watchdog group said in a statement. (Ferdinand Patinio/
PNA)
