By Justin Kennith Gamulo, Davao Today Intern
DAVAO CITY – The Commission on Elections said it is still unclear when the Sangguniang Kabataan election will push through.
COMELEC’s assistant regional director Atty. Marlon Casquejo clarified that the date for the election was subject to change as they are still waiting for President Benigno Aquino III’s approval for its postponement.
House Bill 5006 is a resolution to postpone the SK Election in February 21.
“We are now just waiting for the President’s signature to pass it into law,” Casquejo said.
COMELEC failed to prepare on time the election documents and paraphernalia needed for SK elections.
Casquejo told the media that the agency expected a feedback from Malacañang prior to February 6, but the failure to receive a go-signal prompted the office to reschedule the election on April 25.
“So again, we are hoping that the bill would finally turn into law before the dawn of March 26 so that we can make a resolution to postpone the election,” Atty. Casquejo said.
“But if the President still fails to sign it, then the election would have to be rescheduled on April 25,” he added.
The failure of the February 21 election however, would mean a lot of problems for candidates whose age is 17.
The agency feared that because of the continuing shift in schedule, there is a possibility that some candidates would turn 18 in April, a thing the law prohibits in running for the SK election.
“If the election would push through on April 25, the SK official will only serve for a very limited time,” Casquejo said.
“And by the time the candidate turns 18 on or before the election day, then we will be forced to disqualify him or her from running,” he added.
As of the moment, Davao city has a total of 19,772 SK voters from the 872,652 registered voters recorded by the COMELEC.(davaotoday.com)
