Comelec’s P12B for charter change? That’s ‘presumptuous,’ says chair

Comelec Chair George Garcia (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO)

MANILA, Philippines — Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chair George Garcia said it was “presumptuous at this point” to claim that the Comelec’s P12 billion this year for the “conduct and supervision of elections, referenda, recall votes and plebiscites” will be used for the campaign to amend the Constitution.

“What’s important is that our budget was restored,” Garcia told reporters on Wednesday at the Comelec headquarters when asked about Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman’s allegation.

Garcia estimated that a national plebiscite requires a budget of around P13 billion.

“If some people think [the P12 billion] is for the plebiscite, then why did [Congress] not give us enough?” he said.

Can’t say for now

Garcia said Comelec was given the P12-billion budget during the bicameral conference committee because the poll agency had been lobbying Congress to restore the P17.4-billion budget slashed by the Department of Budget and Management.

“Will that (P12 billion) be used for any plebiscite or (people’s) initiative (for constitutional amendment)? We can’t answer that right now. What’s important is we have a budget for preparations for the national and local elections,” he said.

He was referring to the midterm national and local elections in May next year and the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections in December next year.

PI not the focus

Garcia denied the P12 billion was restored by Congress in the Comelec budget for the charter change campaign.

“When it was given, there were no talks yet about a people’s initiative (PI). It was given because we asked to restore P17.4 billion in our budget,” he said.

Asked if the P12-billion budget can be used for a people’s initiative as a mode to introduce constitutional amendments, Garcia said: “Yes, we admit it can (be used for that) since it’s under the item for ‘recall, initiative, referendum and preparation for any elections.”

“We can use that since we have the discretion as a constitutional body. But right now we are focused on the resumption of voter’s registration and on the preparation for the national and local elections and the barangay and SK elections,” he said.