By Flora Aslyn Olympia PRESIDENT RODRIGO Duterte signed into law the bill postponing the synchronized Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Elections schedule at the end of this month, Malacañang confirmed last Oct. 18. The elections which were scheduled on Oct. 31 this year were moved to Oct. 23, 2017. Under the newly signed law, incumbent barangay officials will hold a year longer in office “unless sooner removed or suspended from cause.”
Duterte feared that the October 2016 Elections might be influenced by drug money that might cause problems especially with his ongoing war on drugs. House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez filed the bill deferring the October 2016 Elections. Alvarez said postponing the elections would be practical and would give the Commission on Elections (Comelec) more time in preparing for the next polls. In the 10th anniversary of the Eastern Mindanao Command in Davao City last Aug. 26, Duterte backed the House Bill 3384, saying the government could save billions in the postponement of the barangay-based elections. Voter registration to resume With the postponement of the October 2016 Elections, Comelec decided to resume its voters’ registration on November 7, 2016 until April 29, 2017 in preparation for the 2017 barangay-based elections. "We will have a longer registration period to ensure wider voters' participation. We are expecting more than 55 million voters for next year's election, with the inclusion of SK voters aged 15-17 years old," Comelec Spokesperson James Jimenez said in a statement posted in their website. Registration booths, however, will be closed on Dec. 24 and 25, 2016 and April 13 and 14, 2017. E
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