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Comelec urged to postpone 2022 elections

Ina Reformina, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="A group calling itself Coalition for Life and Democracy on Friday filed a petition at the Comelec seeking to postpone the May 2022 elections. Ina Reformina, ABS-CBN News" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/patrolph/12/10/election.jpg"/><figcaption>A group calling itself Coalition for Life and Democracy on Friday filed a petition at the Comelec seeking to postpone the May 2022 elections. Ina Reformina, ABS-CBN News</figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA — A group calling itself Coalition for Life and Democracy (NCLD) on Friday filed a petition at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) seeking to postpone the May 9, 2022 national and local elections, citing the COVID-19 pandemic.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Coalition for Life and Democracy (NCLD) files petition urgjng the Comelec to postpone the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Halalan2022u?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Halalan2022u</a> until May 2025 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.<br/><br/>The group says they also wrote Congress to appeal for passage of an enabling law. <a href="https://t.co/8U377nZzDJ">pic.twitter.com/8U377nZzDJ</a></p>— Ina Reformina (@InaReformina) <a href="https://twitter.com/InaReformina/status/1469238765457575940?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 10, 2021</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>“Based on the prevailing circumstances, there subsists [a] compelling necessity for the state to postpone the elections,” the petition asserted. </p><p>“Experience in recent months and the present situation demands continuing observance of health protocols particularly prohibition on social gatherings and overcrowding,” it added.</p><p>The group further pointed out so-called “meet and greet” engagements of “presidential, gubernatorial and mayoral candidates” have led to “open vote-buying, and in the process, placing the life, health and safety of the poor and innocent in grave jeopardy.”</p><p>The elections should be postponed, especially amid the “highly transmissible” Omicron variant of COVID-19, the petition said. </p><p>While the conduct of elections on the second Monday of May is mandated under Art. VII, Sec. 4 of the 1987 Constitution, the group argued the right to life “takes precedence” and is “the highest and most sacred” in the hierarchy of rights. </p><p>NCLD cited the state’s police power and adoption of extraordinary measures “during extraordinary times to promote and protect the health of the citizenry and avert the spectacle of massive deaths.” </p><p>The group, however, conceded that the power to reschedule national elections rests with Congress, while it asserted under Sec. 5 of the Omnibus Election Code, the poll body may postpone local elections from the position of governor down to member of the Sangguniang Bayan. </p><p>“We can seek the postponement of a scheduled national elections through the filing of a bill in congress, to be decided by both Houses, and to be signed by the President; along this line ang mga local officials naman, the elections for the local officials… the [Comelec], voting on a majority of the members of the en banc, can postpone a local election,” said Francisco Buan, one of the petitioners.</p><p>Buan said they wrote Congress, but no bill has been filed as of yet. </p><p>Noticeably, the petition cited different years for the resetting of polls: in the body, the plea was for the polls to be held in May 2023, while the prayer states it should be in May 2025.</p><p>The petition states the coalition was formed in June 2021 at the St. Clare College in Caloocan City, “anchored on a noble mission to underscore and uphold the importance and primacy of life, its protection and preservation, while adhering to democratic systems, principles and ideology.” </p><p>Buan said their group is “apolitical.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1856405" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

A group calling itself Coalition for Life and Democracy on Friday filed a petition at the Comelec seeking to postpone the May 2022 elections.

Comelec urged to postpone 2022 elections

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Comelec urged to postpone 2022 elections

Ina Reformina,

ABS-CBN News

Published December 10, 2021 06:49 PM PHT

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Updated December 10, 2021 07:12 PM PHT

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