The House Suffrage and Electoral Reforms committee has voted to postpone the December 5, 2022 barangay and youth council elections to December 4, 2023.
At least 12 members voted in favor of the measure even after the Commission on Elections informed the panel that postponing the December 2022 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections for at least year will entail an additional cost of P5 billion.
Only France Castro of Alliance of Concerned Teachers party-list and Raoul Manuel of Kabataan party-list voted against the postponement, saying this will rob the voters of their right to choose their public officials.
The House panel likewise carried the motion setting the tenure of those who will be elected in December 2023 and thereafter for three years.
Those elected during the December 2023 polls will start their term noontime of January 1, 2024.