Even if Brgy polls moved, P3.4-B budget stays with Comelec — lawmaker

Even if the upcoming barangay elections in October will be postponed, the P3.4 billion Commission on Elections (Comelec) budget for the polls could not be used for other purposes unless the poll body allows it. Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. issued this statement, responding to proposals that the budget for the barangay elections be turned into savings if the polls are deferred. In a committee hearing on Wednesday, Ricojudge Echiverri, president of the Liga ng mga Barangay, had said the amount could be used for the "more pressing needs" of the country— such as the power crisis in Mindanao, the water shortage in Luzon, and the improvement of weather forecasting in the country. However, in a press conference in Quezon City on Thursday, Barzaga, chairman of the House committee on suffrage and electoral reforms, said it was "impossible to retrieve" the multi-billion budget. Barzaga said the Department of Budget Management, which released the funds, could no longer recover the money from the poll body, unless the Comelec volunteers to return it. "May fiscal autonomy kasi sila [Comelec] (They have fiscal autonomy). Do they have the right to appropriate this [amount] to other purposes? Yes, because that is what is stated in the doctrine of fiscal autonomy," the lawmaker said. He said the Comelec ultimately has the final say on whether to return the money back to government coffers or use it for other Comelec purposes. Barzaga said he has no problems if the Comelec would use the budget to construct a new office, as the poll body earlier indicated, or to buy counting machines for future elections. However, Jose Melo, Comelec chairman, already said he was "not heartless" and was willing to let the 3.4 billion budget be used for other purposes like building schools. Another cost-cutting measure being proposed was the "abolition" of the current structure of the Sangguniang Kabataan council. President Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III himself had said he wanted the SK council to be reformed. The President proposed that only one youth representative will be elected to sit in the barangay council, instead of eight: the SK chairman and seven other members. No power on SK issue Meanwhile, Barzaga said the House has "no power" to tackle the issue of abolishing the SK elections, because no bills or resolutions have been filed regarding the matter. He said calls to abolish the SK polls should be carefully studied. "Ang remedyo ba ay i-abolish or just pass legislation to address issues against the SK (Is the remedy to abolish the SK or just pass legislation to address issues against the SK?" he asked. Consensus before it's too late Fearful of setting a "bad precedent," Barzaga also assured that the House of Representatives would immediately resolve the petitions seeking to postpone the barangay elections. Barzaga said the lawmakers should reach a consensus by September, before the October schedule for the barangay elections. Some groups are proposing that the barangay elections be moved to next year even if the President already expressed his desire to push through with the polls this year. "We have to act on the petitions. It will be a bad precedent if we don't act only because of Aquino's position," said Barzaga, chairman of the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms. There are currently 22 House bills and three House resolutions seeking to postpone the barangay polls, Barzaga said. He said resolving the issues surrounding the barangay polls now would help not only the incumbent barangay officials, but also those who are planning to run in October. Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda earlier said Aquino wanted the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan polls to happen in October to pave the way for the polls to be synchronized with the mid-term elections in 2013. –VVP, GMANews.TV