[ad_1]
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 25) – Malacañang ruled out the idea of postponing the 2022 elections due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement on Friday, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the Constitution is clear in requiring a national election every three years, which takes place on the second Monday in May. The next general elections must be held on May 9, 2022, before the end of President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration on June 30 of that year.
“The national elections are still two years away and we still have enough time to prepare,” Roque said. He said the country can learn from the United States, which will hold presidential elections in November. The United States has recorded nearly seven million coronavirus infections, more than any other country in the world.
“We should not use the current global health crisis as a reason to cancel and reschedule elections, as this would not sit well with the public,” Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said in a statement Friday.
During the budget hearing of the Elections Commission in the House of Representatives on Thursday, Pampanga Representative Mikey Arroyo asked the electoral commissioner if there are plans to propose the postponement as the risk of infection will be high when the public goes to vote. .
Comelec’s president, Sheriff Abas, said this has not been considered as the election is a constitutional mandate. He said that only the president and Congress can decide to delay the polls, which can be done by law.
The president of the Senate, Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, and other legislators strongly opposed any possible attempt to reschedule the elections, saying it goes against the provisions of the Constitution. Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said the only accepted reasons for the postponement of local elections include violence, terrorism and the destruction of election paraphernalia.
READ: The call to postpone the 2022 elections will not extend the term of elected officials: Drilon
Comelec said it is considering a longer voting period, up to three days, to limit mass gatherings should the coronavirus last until 2022.
[ad_2]
