SENATOR Imee Marcos, the chairperson of the Committee on Electoral Reforms and People’s Participation, submits for plenary debates the Senate Bill (SB) no. 1306 or “An Act Postponing the December 2022 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections”.

In her sponsorship speech, Marcos said the proposed Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) postponement is just a preliminary measure “to give us time to study and debate the deeper issues confronting the barangay and SK system under our present law.”

Marcos explained that this is also a means to “buy time” for a series of measures that her committee is proposing to Congress.

“A quick review reveals that every barangay election since 1989 has been postponed resulting in an actual extension of term averaging 4 to 5 years. Hence, I propose that the term of the barangay and SK officials should be extended to 6 years, permanently fixing their elections every May the year following the presidential elections,” Marcos, which was made clear in her SB no. 1195.

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, who co-sponsors SB 1305, cited the need for the country to address more pressing problems such as the lingering effects of the pandemic, surging inflation, and the rising cost of living.

As the most basic form of government, Estrada said barangay serves as “the pillar” from which government can accomplish its duties and obligations.

“With the barangay being the most basic form of government in our country, it serves as the pillar from which the government is able to accomplish its duties and obligations, managing the citizens at a level that the national government simply could not match. It is vital that they are at least given the opportunity to fulfill their electoral mandates, making up for opportunities taken away by the pandemic. It would be most prudent to do so since ensuring the execution and implementation of the programs they were elected for – warrants a better cohesion of government at both the barangay and national level, which is essentially a key to the betterment of our country,” Estrada said.

Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. said during the interpellation, and upon hearing all arguments, the committee weighed all options, listened to all sides, and found that “another postponement can be in the interest of the greater good; another postponement cannot be evaded.”

“In this measure, we weighed the situation of the country at this time the hardship of life and the continuing pandemic on one side and the effect of the postponement of elections on the lives and welfare of our people on the other side,” Revilla said.

According to Revilla, the postponement of elections will diffuse “brewing tension” among candidates and will give them more time to prepare for next year’s elections.

“To strike a balance, in pushing for this postponement, we also have to ensure that it will be utilized so that more Filipinos are able to exercise their right to suffrage come elections times. After all, their choice always decides the fate of our nation,” Revilla added.

For his part, Sen. Francis Tolentino expressed the same support for the postponement, saying that this move is reasonable and urgent.

Tolentino, the Vice Chairperson of the said Committee, stressed that his reason for supporting the postponement is the urgent need to amend the decades-old Local Government Code (LGC) or Republic Act No. 7160. The LGC was enacted in 1991.

As the former Mayor of Tagaytay City for three consecutive terms, Tolentino stated that the amendment of the LGC would require a substantial amendment of the functions of the officials enumerated therein. These newfound functions would result in the efficient and effective implementation of the “Mandanas Ruling”.

As confirmed by the Supreme Court in 2019, the “Mandanas Ruling” is projected to increase the local government units’ (LGUs) share in the national taxes by 27.61%.

According to Tolentino, “I am in favor of a one-year postponement of the Barangay [and Sangguniang] Kabataan elections because it will pave the way for the revision, the long-awaited revision of the Local Government Code. And Mr. President, the time of one year would probably be sufficient enough for our barangay officials to lead at the grassroots level, the post-pandemic economic recovery envisioned by our President in the national government.”