P5-B slashed budget of Comelec restored, says Brillantes

Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The Commission on Elections will be getting its P5 billion appropriations which the Department of Budget and Management had earlier planned to slash from its proposed funds for 2013.

This was what Comelec chairman Sixto Brillantes said during the deliberations on election body’s budget at the House of Representatives on Wednesday.

He told the panel that the said amount was left it out in Comelec’s proposed P8.4 billion budget for 2013 since the DBM has signified that it would provide it at an earlier period.

Comelec would use the P5 billion for preparations for the elections next year, Brillantes said. The amount will come from the poll body’s savings, he added.

The Comelec chair has earlier threatened to resign from his post if the agency’s P13.4 billion will not be granted.