THE Supreme Court will soon settle the constitutionality of postponing the elections for the barangay (village) and Sangguniang Kabataan (local youth council). But the original rationale for doing so — which was to save money, that the funds could be added to the Covid-19 relief effort or help other government programs — has been debunked.

Months ago, some were arguing that deferring those elections to next year would allow the authorities to address more pressing concerns. And with P8.5 billion budgeted for the polls, the argument sounded compelling.