Recto: 2nd postponement of barangay polls must be the final one

This year’s postponement of the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections should be the last as another one would constitute a “strike three” against democracy, Senator Ralph Recto said Wednesday.

“People should not be robbed of their right to replace their leaders or renew their trust on them,” Recto said in a statement.

“This second postponement must be the final one. It should be a non-extendable deferment. If we scrap again the elections in May, it will constitute a strike three against democracy,” he added.

President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law on Tuesday Republic Act Republic Act 10953 postponing the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections to 2018.

Recto said that the postponement of the barangay and SK elections had given another year to officials who “coddle or in cahoots with drug lords.”

Postponing the election also costs the government hundreds of millions, he said.

The senator reminded the government that all officials in the country—from the President down to the barangay captain—have fixed terms.

“They’re contractual employees elected to fixed terms. Having expiry dates on elective posts is one of democracy’s greatest virtues,” he said.

“I am counting on the palabra de honor of Malacañang that this will be the last cancellation,” he added.