MANILA,
Oct 18 (PNA) -- President Rodrigo Duterte has signed a law postponing the
Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections scheduled late this month, the
Palace announced on Tuesday.
Quoting Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Presidential Communications Office (PCO) assistant secretary Marie Banaag said the law was already signed by the President.
“But
he just had to wait for the courier, the aircraft that would bring home the
signed law and for proper transmittal to the proper offices,” Banaag said in a
press briefing in Malacañan.
In
his previous public pronouncements, the President said he was against the
conduct of the barangay polls because many barangay officials were involved in
the illegal drug trade.
Pushing
through with the election would entrench them in power, President Duterte said,
as narco-politics already had a grip on the country’s political system.
The
Duterte administration has carried out a relentless campaign against illegal
drugs, with close to 800,000 drug users and pushers surrendering to
authorities.
