This second postponement must be the final one. It should be a non-extendable deferment. If we scrap again the elections in May, it will constitute a strike three against democracy.

I am counting on the palabra de honor of Malacañang that this will be the last cancellation.

Officials in this land – from the President down to the barangay captain – have the same employment status: they’re contractual employees elected to fixed terms. Having expiry dates on elective posts is one of democracy’s greatest virtues.

And nothing inspires good performance more than the threat of being terminated from work. This fear of feeling the end of the boot is what keeps us casuals always on our toes.

The effect, however, of the postponement, is that barangay officials who have lost the trust of their constituents, like those who coddle or are in cahoots with drug lords, are gifted with another year in office.

People should not be robbed of their right to replace their leaders or renew their trust on them.

This should be the last deferral because there is a fiscal cost in cancelling. Every time we reset, we pay a postponement fee, in the hundreds of millions, for activities which must be conducted again.

The new law carries my amendment that the amount of P6.09 billion appropriated in RA 10651 and RA 10717 be treated as continuing appropriations that will fund the holding of the barangay elections next May.