AROUND 100 barangay officials of Baguio have signed the petition circulated by the National Liga ng mga Barangay calling for the postponement of the October village and youth elections.
The signatories said the incoming election is too close to the recently concluded presidential elections and "adverse" social impact has not been addressed yet.
They also said that because credibility of the automated elections has been jeopardized due to reports of electronic manipulation, the barangay elections has to be postponed until such time the electoral process runs smoothly.
"The preparedness to conduct the barangay elections in October 2010, both on time and budget constraints, may be in doubt since it would be a hard and tedious process involving 42,000 barangays all over the Philippines," the petition stated.
Signatories also pointed out there are several elections to be done at the barangay level this year, "which could lead to a continuing negative social impact."
These polls include election of officers of the Liga ng mga Barangay at the municipal and city levels on November and the election of Liga officers at the provincial level, every December.
The petition also stated the three-year training of barangay officials will be useless if their terms were cut short if they are not reelected.
"Since the time of barangay officials is only three years, their term would already end by the time their knowledge and skill they acquire from seminars and trainings are just beginning to sink in."
Finally, the league said the timing of the conduct of the elections is ill-timed as the Commission on Elections has just spent millions for the first automated elections.
The league said the amount to be spent for the barangay elections is better spent on urgent matters like disaster-preparedness projects. (Rimaliza Opiña)