Commission on Elections Chairman Andres Bautista (left) and Commissioner Rowena Guanzon (right).
(UNTV News)
The Commission on Elections en banc has not released a resolution in support of the proposal asking Congress to postpone the barangay elections which is scheduled this October.
It can be recalled that COMELEC Chairman Andres Bautista openly stated that he wants the barangay polls postponed because having successive elections might just result in election fatigue.
Aside from the barangay elections, Bautista also wants the Sangguniang Kabataan elections postponed.
However, COMELEC Commissioner Rowena Guanzon is not in favor of moving the barangay polls to a later schedule.
She said the field officials of COMELEC will not have a hard time preparing for it.
“Our personnel are prepared to do the task and barangay elections is manual so it will not be that costly. Also even if it will be tiring to our election officers but they are used to that,” Commissioner Guanzon explained.
“If Congress will not postpone it, that is our job. People might think that we are just being lazy,” she added.
Guanzon also pointed out that it will not be difficult to get the services of the teachers to serve as election inspectors.
“The teachers should just be paid on time. If we are able to prepare all the necessary things, barangay elections would not be a problem at all,” Guanzon said in a statement.
Even the chairman of the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms is not supportive of the postponement proposal.
Congressman Fredenil Castro says he does not see any reason not to proceed with the barangay polls as scheduled.
Also, Castro believes it is not right to again postpone the SK polls which was already postponed twice pending the approval of the SK Reform Law.
Castro says now that the law has already been passed, moving the SK polls will again deprive youth representation in government which is not in accordance with the spirit of the constitution.
Meanwhile, Guanzon, being the Chairman of the Gender and Development Committee of COMELEC, is encouraging more women to candidate in the upcoming barangay elections.
“The barangay elections is an opportunity for women, the territory is small, there are less number of voters, they are known in their community and church so there is a great chance for them to get elected even if they do not have plenty of money to spend for the campaign. I hope more women will run this barangay elections.”
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