THE postponement of Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections will give time for officials to serve their constituents, Negros Occidental Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer said.

Ferrer said his wife Representative Juliet Marie Ferrer (4th district) presented and defended the proposal during the plenary session.

Barangay officials can now focus on serving their constituents instead of partisan politics, the vice governor said.

Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson has earlier said that he is also backing the postponement of the Barangay and SK elections.

The Bicameral Conference Committee from the House of Representatives and the Senate earlier agreed to reconcile their respective versions of bills postponing the elections.

Under the reconciled version, the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections scheduled on the second Monday of May 2020 is being postponed to December 5, 2022.

It also said that subsequent synchronized Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections shall be held on the first Monday of December 2025 and every three years thereafter.

The term of office of the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan officials elected in the December 5, 2022 elections and subsequently thereafter shall commence at noon of January 1 next following their election, it said.

It also provides that Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan officials who are ex-officio members of the Sangguniang Bayan, Sangguniang Panlungsod, or Sangguniang Panlalawigan, as the case may be, shall continue to serve as such members in the council concerned until the next Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.