It will cost the Commission on Elections (Comelec) P17 billion to P18 billion if the barangay and sangguniang kabataan (SK) elections were postponed, as opposed to P8.4 billion if the polls were held as originally set on Dec. 5, 2022.
Comelec chair George Erwin Garcia made this assessment during a hearing of the Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms and Peoples Participation on the proposed deferment of the barangay and SK elections.
“If these elections will be moved to May 2023, the Comelec will need P17 billion and if they will be held on December 2023, the needed funds will reach P18 billion,” Garcia told the committee chaired by Sen. Imee Marcos.
“All in all for May of 2023, we’ll be needing at least P17 billion less the P8 billion,” Garcia added.
Marcos agreed that more funds would be needed the two electoral exercises would be deferred to December 2023 than March 2023.
“So P17 (billion) less the P8.5 (billion) and then P18 (billion) less the P8.5 (billion),” stressed Garcia.
Marcos noted that the funding if the elections would be held next year “would be doubled than what is needed if we will push through with the barangay and SK elections next year.”
According to Garcia, they will request Congress for the P8.5 billion which has no increase in honoraria for the electoral board members.
Garcia explained that if the elections scheduled on December would be reset, they will open again the registration process.
He said it is likely that there will be an additional three to five million additional registrants.
He said this would mean additional poll workers, precincts, and election paraphernalia such as ballot boxes, ballots, indelible ink, and others.
On the other hand, the senators requested for a detailed computation of the Comelec regarding this matter.
Garcia also said that if the elections this December would be deferred, the funds for the barangay and SK elections cannot be re-aligned.
According to Garcia, they are continuously spending the funds. In fact, they had already spent P1b for the election preparations and the procurement of padlocks.
He said there is also an ongoing bidding and procurement of other supplies like paper which will be used for the printing of ballots. They are targeting to finish the printing by September or the second week of October.
However, in case the elections proceed in December, they are prepared for the exercise.
He said they will stick to the P8.-billion budget.
“Of course, it does not contain any increase in honoraria of the teachers, but perhaps, they can really understand,” he said.
For her part, Marcos admitted that she personally believes the elections should not be postponed, having made a promise to former Senator Franklin Drilon in the 18th Congress that this will be the last postponement.