Comelec to save P900 M with synchronized barangay, SK polls

MANILA, Philippines - Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. said yesterday the poll body would save some P900 million if the  Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) polls next month would not push through.

Brillantes noted that SK polls should instead be synchronized with the barangay elections in October 2016.

“If we conduct these two elections, we will be able to save the money – the reason we are pushing for a postponement of SK,” he said.

Last Friday, Brillantes defended such move before the Senate, which eventually approved a measure recommending the synchronization of the two elections.

Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who also chairs the committee on local governments, had announced that the Senate would also pursue the passage of a proposed SK reform bill different from the postponement measure initiated by the House of Representatives.

Brillantes said the SK polls would only interrupt preparations for the local and national elections set in May 2016.

Aside from this, the eligibility age being proposed in the SK reform bill is 18-24, which is different from the 15-17 existing age requirement, so it is better to wait for the new measure in case Congress would approve it, he said.