By DANNY O SAGUN

IT’S now more apparent that the barangay elections as well as the sangguniang kabataan elections scheduled on October 29 would push thru. The two houses of Congress indeed tackled proposals to postpone the polls anew but failed to get its act together. While the lower House appeared favorable to it, the Senate was lukewarm to the idea.

Congress is about to go on a recess leaving very little time for the legislature to deliberate on the matter. Time therefore is not on the side of the proponents. Only six senators so far have signified willingness to vote in favor of the proposed postponement. And the chair of election reforms, Senator Richard Gordon, is abroad at the moment, as well as several members of the upper chamber.

Do we really need to postpone the village and sangguniang kabataan elections?

Those clamoring for postponement argue that the country has just been through a tumultuous election last May 14 and it cannot afford another one. Holding it next year or in 2010 would mean savings for the cash-strapped country. Agree?

Such argument only shows that the Constitution needs amendment as far as the term for elective officials is concerned.

We hold elections every three years for local posts. In between are polls for barangay, sangguniang kabataan, and the autonomous region of Muslim Mindanao. We spend billions for such polls almost every year. That enormous amount of money is better spent for poverty alleviation, infrastructure, employment generation, etc.

Why not hold elections only every four years? Yes all positions from the lowly barangay kagawad to the topmost position, the president of the Republic are staked simultaneously. For the sangguniang kabataan, better scrap it. We just waste precious money for a good-for-nothing endeavor. The scheme is good on paper but in practice the SK is nothing.

Some quarters say that the village election should not be held simultaneously with the local or national polls because of its nonpartisan nature. We ask, when have our barangay officials been shielded from partisan politics and therefore indifferent to it?

The last May 14 elections showed their true color. Some barangay captains, if not all, and their kagawads too, wore two jackets, so to speak. We heard of barangay officials hiding or missing after the elections for fear of reprisal for either keeping campaign funds for themselves or supporting opposing camps in exchange for money.

Only the incumbent barangay officials were noted to be pushing for another postponement of the election to enjoy one to two more years (well, barangays are awash with money so that some village officials are tempted to dip their dirty fingers into the coffers). All others wanted it pushed thru this October 29.

To postpone or not?

We think it is better pushed thru to give chance to others. It’s time to remove the incompetents. The once young officials of the SK do not fit their positions anymore as some of them have their respective families already.

In the meantime our policymakers should work for the needed changes in our electoral system as discussed above. We cannot only save so much money but save this country from elections that spill so much blood every time they are held.