Zamboangueños want May 2018 village polls to push through

Majority of the individuals who shared their views during the first public hearing of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) held on Monday in Zamboanga City wants the May 2018 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) to push through. (Photo by Shubert Ciencia/Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

MANILA — Majority of the individuals who shared their views during the first public hearing of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) held on Monday in Zamboanga City wants the May 2018 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) to push through.

“Six individuals and groups rose to speak, and — to the question of whether the #BSKE2018 in Mindanao should be postponed — the nays carried the day,” Jimenez said in his blog.

Commissioners Christian Robert Lim and Rowena Guanzon presided over the public hearing, which is the first of three public hearings to be held in Mindanao this month.

“Representatives of the religious communities were among those who spoke up. The Ulama Council manifested a desire to see the elections push through,” Jimenez said.

“And a priest reminded incumbents who claimed to be “good performers,” that it was better to let the people decide. “Seek a fresh mandate. And that’s pretty much what elections are all about, isn’t it? the priest said,” he added.

On the other hand, Guanzon, on her Twitter account, @commrguanzon, said Cesar Climaco Jr., son of the late Zamboanga mayor Cesar Climaco opposed postponing the village and youth polls.

She added that police and military representatives claimed “there are no serious grounds for postponing the barangay elections in Zamboanga.”

Last Monday’s event was held at 700 Gov. Carmins Avenue in Zamboanga City.

The second public hearing, meanwhile, was held Tuesday at the Grand Caprice Restaurant and Convention Center, Limketkai Center, Lapasan, Cagayan de Oro City.

The last public hearing will be conducted at the Alnor Hotel and Convention Center, Alnor Commercial Center, Cotabato City on January 29.

The Omnibus Election Code states that the commission either motu proprio or through a petition by any interested party, and after due notice and hearing, may postpone the holding of elections due to violence, terrorism, loss or destruction of election paraphernalia or records, force majeure, and other analogous causes.

Last December, members of the Senate and House of Representatives, in Joint Session had approved the request of President Rodrigo Duterte to extend martial law in Mindanao until Dec. 31, 2018.