Barangay elections postponement

The proposal of the House of Representatives to postpone the barangay elections is unconstitutional,  - veteran election lawyer Romulo Macalintal 

MANILA - The proposal of the House of Representatives to postpone the barangay elections is unconstitutional, veteran election lawyer Romulo Macalintal said Thursday.

Delaying the vote will effectively extend the three-year terms of village officials and deprive the electorate of their right to choose their leaders, Macalintal told DZMM.

"Ang mangyayari n'yan, magustuhan lang nila, ipo-postpone nila at wala na tayong karapatan na mga mamamayan na mag-elect ng ating mga leaders [What will happen is they will postpone the elections as if on a whim and we'll lose the right to elect our leaders]," he said.

"Paano iyung mga lugar na ang mga barangay ay ayaw na ng taong bayan, na talaga namang dapat palitan? [What about the barangays where residents no longer support their officials, who should really be replaced?]" he added.

Postponing the Sangguniang Kabataan elections, however, was not likely to pose any problems since it is not covered by the Constitution, he said.

President Rodrigo Duterte said last week he was in favor of postponing the barangay and SK polls on October 31 for fear that drug money would "slip into the electoral process."

An all-member caucus of the House of Representatives agreed Tuesday to reschedule the elections to the 4th Monday of October, 2017.

source:abscbnnews