No more postponement
If this were a presidential election, postponement would have triggered another people power revolt. But because the lowest ranking officials in the local government totem pole were involved, opposition to a postponement was muted. And so the election of village officials and youth council members, originally scheduled in October 2005, was reset to October this year. Now, with election day again approaching, congressmen want yet another postponement, this time to 2009 – another two-year term extension for their grassroots political leaders.Those endorsing a postponement have a good excuse: elections are expensive and this exercise will cost billions of pesos in public funds. But there will never be a lack of excuses for postponing all electoral exercises in this country, foremost of which is the disaster that is the Commission on Elections. National leaders will simply have to see to it that all voting schedules and term limits are followed, even as lawmakers review the wisdom of holding the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections separately from major electoral exercises.
Since Ferdinand Marcos tried to make himself president for life, Filipinos have been leery of any attempt to allow any official to serve in perpetuity or extend his term of office. A proposal last year to extend the terms of lawmakers by only six months, to make way for constitutional amendments, was immediately shot down. The same aversion to term extensions should apply to all elective officials.
Lawmakers can authorize a postponement of the barangay and youth council elections. This means they don’t have to shell out funds to contribute to the campaigns of their political leaders, who helped them in the May elections. This also earns them the gratitude of those leaders, who get another bonus of two years without having to seek re-election. By the time Congress allows the elections to push through, the current youth council members will be too old to be classified as youths. Barangay and SK officials who have performed badly must be replaced. There are other people who want to serve and must be given a chance. That is the essence of democracy, and lawmakers must not stand in the way.
