Postponing barangay, SK elections won’t save funds, says Comelec chair

By: Zacarian Sarao - 2 years ago

MANILA, Philippines — Postponing the 2022 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) will not save funds and will instead cost more money, said Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Garcia on Tuesday.

Garcia said this in an interview over TeleRadyo on Tuesday where he reminded both the public and lawmakers that the commission already has a P8.5 billion budget earmarked for the conduct of the BSKE Elections.

“Ibig sabihin kahit ipostpone ‘yung barangay and sk elections, pinostpone mo lang ‘yung panahon ng paghhold nito pero hindi po napostpone ‘yung gastos na ‘yon, meaning ‘yun pa rin ‘yung amount; in fact madadagdagan dahil magkakaroon ng pagpapatuloy ng pagpaparehistro ng mga botante natin,” he added.

(This means that even if the barangay and SK elections are postponed, you only postponed the holding period but not the expenses, meaning that the amount is still the same; in fact, it will be increased because there will be a continuation of the registration of our voters.)

The continuation of voters’ registration, said Garcia, will then lead to more voters, which would mean more ballots needed to be printed, more voting precincts required to be opened, or more indelible ink to be used, among other materials.

“Ibig sabihin hindi sapat ang budget ngayon at magpapadagdag po kami para doon (This means that the current budget will not be enough and we will have to increase it for that),” he explained.

Garcia previously stated that Comelec has already spent P800,000 of the P8.449 billion budget allocated for the December polls.

READ: Comelec urges Congress to decide on barangay polls

If postponed, Garcia said an additional P5 billion would be needed, including P2 billion for additional materials and personnel, and P3 billion for an increase in the honoraria of electoral board members.

If the postponement of the said elections is passed into law, it will be the second postponement since the BSKE elections’ original schedule in May 2018.

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