By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Abang Lingkod partylist Rep. Stephen Paduano yesterday said the possible postponement of the upcoming May 14 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections will depend on President Rodrigo Duterte.

He noted,while the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms, of which he is a member, will tackle the bills calling for postponement tomorrow, the party-list congressman said the bills could be certified as “urgent” by the president.

Paduano explained, if the bill is certified as “urgent,” both the House of Representatives and the Senate can still pass the bill, despite only having six sessions before they break for Holy Week.

He added, to his knowledge, there is no move yet in the Senate for the postponement of the said polls.

Last month, Negros Occidental Commission on Elections (Comelec) election supervisor, Atty. Jessie Suarez, said postponement would be incumbent on Congress.

Earlier, Surigao del Sur second district Rep. Johnny Pimentel filed House Bill No. 7072, which seeks to postpone the said polls until October of this year.

Pimentel explained, given coordination costs and expenses associated with organizing elections, the Comelec and other involved agencies need additional time to ensure credible and effective barangay elections.

Meanwhile, Oriental Mindoro second district Rep. Reynaldo Umali filed a similar bill, however, his proposal would postpone polls until, at least, May 2019./DGB, WDJ