Malacañang on Friday dismissed the move to postpone the 2022 elections due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a statement, Palace spokesman Harry Roque said that the health crisis should not be used as a reason to postpone the elections.
“We must not use the existing global health crisis as a ground to cancel and reschedule the elections as this would not sit well with the public,” he said.
Roque said constitutional challenges would arise if and when the elections were postponed.
“The holding of elections is a public service that the government must ensure to deliver,” he declared.
The next election is slated for May 9, 2022.
House Deputy Majority Leader and Pampanga Rep. Mikey Arroyo on Thursday asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) if it would be possible to move the 2022 national elections to a later date, saying voters are afraid of Covid-19.
After drawing flak, Arroyo clarified on Friday that he did not want the elections postponed and only wanted a “last resort” to be available in case the pandemic would last until 2022.
Roque said two years should be ample time to prepare and take note of other countries’ conduct of polls.
“The national election is still two years away and we still have sufficient time to prepare. We can learn from the examples of other countries, such as the United States, which will be holding an election later this year, on how they conduct polls during Covid-19 pandemic,” he said. John Ezekiel J. Hirro