Press Release
September 5, 2007

IT'S TOO LATE TO POSTPONE VILLAGE
AND YOUTH POLLS -- PIMENTEL

Arguing that preparations for the October 29 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections are already in a highly-advanced stage, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Nene" Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) today warned that hundreds of millions of pesos in taxpayers' money will go to waste if the twin political exercises will be postponed anew.

Pimentel said the Commission on Elections has already used up a huge fraction of the P2 billion budget for the Barangay-SK polls, including about P300 million for the registration of new voters.

He said the deferment of the elections will trigger a strong outrage from the people who are overwhelmingly opposed to such move because this will curtail their right to vote and to ask village leaders to account for their performance.

With the village and youth polls barely two months away, Pimentel said it would be too late to postpone the elections, even if this has been endorsed by the committee on electoral reforms of the House of Representatives.

"In my view, the move to reset the Barangay and SK elections is already moot and academic. In the first place, the Department of Budget and Management has assured that there are funds available for the purpose and it has in fact started releasing funds. And secondly, the Comelec has been saying it's all systems go for the polls," he said.

The House committee on electoral reforms has approved the postponement of the Barangay and SK polls from Oct. 29 this year to the 2nd Monday of October, 2009.

Pimentel, principal author of the Local Government Code, also doubted whether the Senate will go along with the deferment of the twin elections, considering that this had already been postponed a number of times. Even Sen. Richard Gordon, chairman of the Senate committee on electoral reforms, has categorically objected to the postponement.

In fact, there is no counterpart bill on poll postponement filed or pending with the Senate.

Pimentel said some congressmen are deceiving the people by citing the need to put in place the computerization of elections as a major reason for the two-year deferment.

He cited the explanation of Comelec officials that there is no urgency to computerize the Barangay and SK elections because the counting and tabulation of votes is confined to the precincts within the barangay.

This is unlike in a national election where the votes are counted and tallied in various stages - from the precincts to the municipal/city, provincial and lastly to the national levels.

Pimentel said that while he is a proponent of computerization he believes that it should be done only in few selected pilot areas on an experimental basis.

The senator from Mindanao said the real reason why congressmen favor the postponement of the polls is because they are wary of being swamped by requests for campaign contributions from candidates for Barangay and SK posts. But he said they should not feel obliged to make such contributions because Barangay and SK polls are intended to be non-partisan in character.

He also gave other reasons why the Barangay and SK elections should not be deferred anew:

1. It would be unfair to the community to further extend the term of Barangay and SK officials, particularly those who are non-performing, incompetent and abusive, as a consequence of the poll postponement. 2. It will create an abnormal and illegal situation wherein the incumbent SK officials are way above the age bracket (15 to 17 years old) for the youth as defined in the Local Government Code, as amended. 3. Random surveys conducted by broadcast networks indicate that more than 70 percent of the populace is against the postponement. 4. The postponement will only benefit the overstaying Barangay and SK officials who will continue to receive compensation and other privileges and to exercise the authority of public officials without the benefit of a fresh mandate. 5. This will undermine the electoral process and system of tenure of public officials.

News Latest News Feed