Sen. Imee Marcos faced the Cebu media in a press conference after the tax forum in Cebu City on Wednesday, Oct. 16. | CDN Digital photo by Niña Mae Oliverio
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Senator Imee Marcos looks forward to passing the bill that will extend the current term of the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) officials to six years.
“I have spoken to my peers about it, and there is already a bill also in the Lower House,” Marcos said in a press conference in Cebu City on Wednesday when she attended a tax forum held by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and Cooperative Development Authority (CDA).
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“At least nakumbinse na sila. Previously, they only wanted an extension na pinagbawal na ng Korte Suprema. Now, there are pending bills. I think there will be a bicameral effort and nagtatawaran pa kami sa five or six years,” Marcos said.
(At least, they are convinced now. Previously, they only wanted an extension which had been prohibited by the Supreme Court. Now, there are pending bills. I think there will be a bicameral effort and we will discuss this topic on whether it will be five or six years.)
Marcos, who chairs the Senate’s Committee on Electoral Reforms, said that she would “only be sponsoring the bill” which was still pending to be passed.
She said that among the concerns why it remained pending was because there was “a level of disagreement given that the SK had a limit on the age.”
“So if there’s a limit on the age, why would it make it so long and deprive other youth leaders of another chance to chair the SK. That’s where the discussion lies,” she said.
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Marcos added that they were “stuck” with the issue of the SK because the six-year term seemed quite long for a youth group.
“Marami nang mag-aaral sa ibang lugar, mag-aasawa, mga trabaho, baka masyadong mahaba ang six years. But ang sabi ko, the oldest candidate in SK is supposed to be 24 so pasok pa rin sa edad na 30. Tingnan natin natin mag ne-negotiate pa kami pag bumalik ang session,” she said.
(Many have already studied in other areas, got married, worked, perhaps, six years would be a long time. But what I said was, the oldest candidate in the SK is supposed to be 24 so the age of 30 is still within that range. We’ll see if we can negotiate this when the session returns.)
Last 2022, Marcos lobbied to extend the term of the Barangay and SK officials from three to six years through Senate Bill 1195 that aimed to amend Republic Act No. 7160 or ‘the Local Government Code Of 1991.’
Two years later, Marcos again filed Senate Bill 2629 that sought to set the term of office for barangay and SK officials.
Subsequently, last August, House of Representatives Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez and other ranking lawmakers have proposed House Bill (HB) No. 10747, setting a fixed term of six years for barangay and SK officials to ensure continuity of projects and to protect them from politicking.
Marcos said that her peers had a level of consensus for the barangay officials’ elections where they agreed not to have elections every 18 months or two years.
Marcos said that it would also be hard for the Commission on Elections (Comelec) which would be managing three elections next year – the midterm elections, the BARMM elections, and the manual Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE).
“October 2023 (the last BSKE) pagkatapos December 2025, it’s little over 2 years, election na naman, kalokohan na ‘to (it’s election again, it’s insane),” she added.