Barangay, youth polls set on Monday

May 13, 2018

After two postponements in the last two years, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is set to hold the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) polls with millions of registered voters expected to troop to their respective polling precincts.

According to Comelec Spokesman James Jimenez, everything is set for the election of one barangay chairperson, seven barangay kagawads or councilmen, 1 SK chairperson and 7 SK kagawads in the 42,044 barangays across the country.

“After two postponements, the nation will finally be given the chance to select its barangay leaders through democratic elections. This is a cause for celebration as it reaffirms our country’s commitment to elections as a fundamental building block of democracy,” said Jimenez.

A total of 57,376,232 registered voters for the barangay polls and another 20,626,329 youth voters for the SK elections will cast their votes from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

This means there are a total of 78,002,561 ballots for the barangay and youth polls.

Of the total number of voters, an estimated 15 million voters aged 18-30 will be eligible to vote both for the barangay and youth elections after the SK Reform Law made the SK voters aged 15-30 years old.

“We are expecting a voter turnout of about 75 percent,” said Jimenez in an interview.

Based on the latest available data, there are 1,178,300 individuals that filed their Certificates of Candidacy (COCs).

They include 89,889 filers for Barangay Chairman; 654,608 filers for Barangay Kagawad; 85,916 filers for SK Chairman; and 347,887 filers for SK Kagawad. DMS