THE House committee on suffrage and electoral reforms have again decided to postpone the Barangay (village) and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) or Youth Council elections from May 14 to October 8 this year, confirmed by a committee member.
Abang-Lingkod party-list Representative Stephen Paduano, a committee member, said they approved the separate versions of the proposed measure seeking for its postponement.
Paduano said they first approved the proposed bill to postpone the election with 17 congressmen in favor and two were against it, and then approved another bill resetting it to the second Monday of October 2018, with 17 congressmen voted in favor f the measure and one against it.
This will soon reach the plenary for the second reading, he said.
"In our level, we can get the postponement, but there must be a counterpart in the Senate to finally decide for its postponement. We are just duty bound to act on the bill because this is one of the most important bills filed in the lower house. If the Senate will not act on the postponement, the elections in May will still push through," he said.
One of the reasons why they sought for the postponement of the elections is still the proliferation of illegal drugs in some 42,036 barangays in the country.