Young people vying for Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) positions this October may not be pleased with the latest plans of President Benigno S. Aquino III compared to those running in the barangay polls.

President Aquino on Wednesday endorsed the holding of the barangay elections on October 25 but unexpectedly supported moves to abolish the elections of SK, a youth council in every community.

Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the government will push for “an amendatory law” that would elect one SK representative to the barangay council rather than elect the full eight-man SK council this coming October.

The draft measure, which will be certified as urgent by the President, would also propose the synchronized national, local, and barangay elections in 2013, according to Lacierda.

The government expects to save around P800 million in public funds from the simultaneous holding of these elections.

“The preference of the President is for the October elections to push through. This includes the barangay elections and the election of one SK representative to the barangay council,” Lacierda said.

Lacierda said the government hopes such priority measure will be enacted by Congress before the barangay polls this October. At present, Filipinos elect one SK chairman and seven members with a term of three years during the SK elections.

“It will be just one bill that will propose the abolition of the SK council by the October, 2010 elections and just have one SK representative; and at the same time, propose the synchronization of the elections by 2013,” he said.

He said the priority measure would be coursed through the Liberal Party congressmen for immediate consideration.

“Hopefully the bill is passed before (the October elections),” he said.

Lacierda made the clarification more than hour after he announced to reporters that the President prefers the barangay and SK elections be held as scheduled this October. The Palace official apparently made a mistake in delivering the message of the President about his position on the upcoming barangay and SK polls.

In an earlier press briefing, Lacierda said: “The preference of the President is for the barangay elections to push through on October.

The reason is we want synchronized elections in 2013.” Asked if the SK polls will be held as planned this October, Lacierda said:

“For now, there is a law. We have to abide by the law.”

Lacierda explained that the government could not postpone the barangay and SK polls as proposed by some groups, including Vice

President Jejomar Binay, since this would illegally extend the mandate of the incumbent officials. “The public wants to elect new sets of barangay officials,” he added.

Meantime, Presidential Communications Operations head Herminio Coloma said the National Printing Office (NPO) is ready to print the ballots needed for the barangay and SK elections within the time frame given by the Commission on Elections.

Coloma, who has supervision over NPO, said the state-run printing office would print 54 million ballots for the barangay polls and four million ballots for the SK elections this October. Coloma, in a phone interview, assured the appropriate safeguards will be put into place to ensure the integrity of the ballots.

“They can do it within the Comelec timeframe,” he said, upon checking the readiness of the NPO with the concerned officials.

In a related development, calls for the postponement of the October 25 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) polls is affecting the ongoing voters' registration, Comelec Spokesperson James Jimenez said, saying the persistent calls for its postponement often discourage the people to come out and register.

“Their usual comment is why should I register when it might be postponed? he said in an interview.

The Comelec earlier urged lawmakers to visit registration centers in their respective districts to see the long lines of people registering in order for them “to have a feel on what their constituents really want”.

In fact, in the National Capital Region (NCR) alone 5,028 registered on the first day.

Jimenez then called on lawmakers to speed up their process of deliberation on whether they will move the elections at a later date or not.

“The sooner they decide on it, the better,” he said.

But even if the October polls is postponed, Jimenez said, the public should still register.

Earlier, Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri filed Senate Bill No. 60 while a similar proposal by Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman submitted at the House of Representatives that seek to move the October, 2010 elections to October, 2012.

The registration period for the barangay election began Wednesday last week and will run till August 13, 2010.

On the other hand, the registration for the SK elections which started last Friday will continue until August 15, 2010. (With a report from Leslie Ann G. Aquino)