A provincial Commission on Elections (Comelec) officer welcomed reports on the postponement of the special Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections from Feb. 21 next year to October 2016.
Provincial Comelec officer Ferdinand Gujilde said while their office has no official position on the deferment, he is personally amenable to the move.
“The reason why it was deferred in the first place was to give way to reforms and probably even abolition. Now, since the time it was first deferred until now, no law has been passed reforming or abolishing the SK,” he told reporters.
This is the second time the SK elections have been deferred, the first being in October last year.
Shorter term
A week ago, the House of Representatives committee on suffrage and electoral reforms approved a consolidated bill postponing next year’s elections to October of 2016.
The bill seeks to synchronize the SK polls with the barangay elections that year.
Gujilde said he was informed by Provincial Election Supervisor Lionel Castillano that the bill is now on second reading.
“The fact that Congress initiated to postpone means they are aware of the timeline. They have to get it done before February 21. Otherwise, they are just wasting time,” he said.
Gujilde said if the February SK elections push through, elected SK officials will have a shorter term, from three years to only one year and eight months.
The officer said this is “too long for a bad SK official, but too short for a good SK official.”
Calendar
Last Oct. 21, the Comelec issued a resolution “providing the calendar of activities and periods of certain prohibited acts and adopting pertinent resolutions” in relation to the SK elections.
The calendar contained dates for the election and campaign periods, as well as the dates for the filing of certificates of candidacy.
Gujilde said Comelec can set the dates but cannot postpone or move election schedules since it is within the power of Congress.
Gujilde said the funds set aside for the February 2015 SK elections will go into savings if it is postponed.
As of September this year, more than 114,000 young people in Cebu registered for the SK elections.