The May elections will be less violent, with the BARMM elections unsynchronized and moved to October, according to Bukidnon 2nd District Representative Jonathan Keith Flores.
“Election-related violence in our country is more linked to local politics than to national elections,” said the Vice-Chair of the Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms in the House of Representatives.
“Election-related violence in our country is more linked to local politics than to national elections.”
Flores said moving the BARMM polls to October will “allow Comelec, DILG, PNP, and AFP to allocate their people and resources to make sure the elections there are peaceful.”
“Keeping the peace and averting violence would be very difficult if the BARMM polls happen in May,” the legislator explained.
“For future local and national elections, I believe unsynchronizing them is the better approach.”
“We have had Barangay and SK elections in October and December. Those polls were managed better than if they were synchronized with national polls,” the lawmaker noted.
“For future local and national elections, I believe unsynchronizing them is the better approach. The gains in fewer lives lost, less sabotage violence, and less terrorism far outweigh the financial cost of having them separate,” he added.
Flores, however, stressed that we must heed the requirements and guidelines the Supreme Court set in its decision on the matter of postponing elections.
