Senate OK’s SK Poll Deferment, No Hold Over Capacity for Officials

The Senate ratified the bicameral conference committee report on Tuesday the bill postponing the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections in October.

The bicameral conference committee tackling the bill postponing the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) polls agreed to leave the youth council posts vacant until new officials are elected.

The Senators in the bicameral panel agreed to the proposal of members of the House of Representatives not to allow incumbent SK officials to keep their posts on holdover capacities after the youth council polls are postponed.

After the conference committee approved the bill, Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., chairman of Senate local government committee, said the move is to reform the system.”We are trying to reform the system. Why would we hold over a system we are not satisfied with?” Senator Marcos said.

Both the Senate and the House panels also agreed to require the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to hold the SK polls between October 28, 2014 and February 23, 2015, contrary to earlier proposals to hold the elections in 2016, in time for the barangay elections.

An additional provision in the measure also allows barangay officials to use SK funds while youth council posts are still vacant, as long as these allocations will still be used for youth-related activities.

Moreover, the committee report did not get the nod of all senators present during Tuesday’s session. Senator Francis Escudero objected, while Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano abstained.

Escudero explained that the Senate and the House of Representatives’ decision to leave SK positions vacant after the postponement was, in effect, a temporary abolition of the youth council, Gma news online said.

“Bakit kapag bata po ang nagkakamali, kailangan buwagin kaagad? We are, in effect, abolishing the SK for one year,” he said.

The House will now have to also ratify the bicameral conference committee report on the SK poll postponement bill before it can be sent to Malacañang for the President’s approval.

Meanwhile, Comelec chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. said he welcomed the postponement of the elections, and the decision not to set the next SK polls in 2016.

“Okay lang sa amin. Kailangan lang namin ng pera. Gusto lang namin na bago pa mag February 2015 ang SK elections para hindi makaapekto sa preparasyon natin for the 2016 presidential elections,” Brillantes said.

Source: GMA news online