Drilon favors postponement of SK elections

Senate President Franklin Drilon on Friday added his voice to those favoring the postponement of the Sangguniang Kabataan elections set on Feb. 21, 2015.

 

"By synchronizing the SK elections with the barangay elections, there will more time for [the] current system to be reviewed and reforms be introduced, while saving public funds and precious time," Drilon said in a press statement.

 

The Senate committee on local government is set to hear on Friday morning the bill seeking to postpone the SK elections.

 

“Our schedule is a bit tight considering that we only have six session weeks before we adjourn in March 19. The scheduled SK election next month is just around the corner, so a decision has to be made immediately whether to allow the elections of new set of SK officers or postpone it further to October 2016 to give Congress more time to overhaul the current SK system,” said Drilon.

 

He added that though Congress is intent on passing the SK polls postponement and Bangsamoro Basic Law within the first quarter of the year, it will also work double-time in ensuring the passage of what it has identified as “must-pass’ measures before the end of the second regular session in June 2015.

 

Among the bills are the amendments to the Built-Operate-Transfer Law, the Fair Competition Act, Rationalization of Fiscal Incentives Act, the rationalization of the mining revenues, the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act, and the amendments to the Charter of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

 

Also included in the “must-pass” legislation are creation of the Department of Information and Communication Technology, the Philippine Immigration Act, the creation of information and communications technology hub, definition of public utilities, and the Magna Carta of the Poor.

 

“We will have to strictly follow our schedule, because this proposes BBL that will create and embed peace in Mindanao still has to go through a lot of process including the ratification by the areas covered by the law, and the ratification should take place before the election period,” he said on Congress' aim to pass BBL on the first quarter of the year. — Amita Legaspi/RSJ, GMA News