Bulay heads steering committee for BSKE


Commissioner Rey Bulay is the head of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Steering Committee for the December 2022 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan polls.

Comelec/MB

Comelec Acting Spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco said Bulay's vice chair is Commissioner Aimee Ferolino.

The poll official, meantime, said that the budget for the 2022 BSKE consisting of allotments and the corresponding cash allocations in the total amount of P8,441,280,000 is still in the coffers of Comelec and remains unspent except for the very minimal amount.

Laudiangco said P225,360 has already been spent for supplies under Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses while P500,000 has been obligated for their national conference-workshop activity.

Amid proposals to postpone the Dec. 5 polls, he stressed that any procurement of goods will not be of waste should the proposed postponement or resetting be approved into law.

Laudiangco explained that the same may be utilized in the new date of BSKE.

"This is similar to what the Commission had authorized for the May 14, 2018 BSKE wherein we used ballots and accountable forms which were all dated Oct. 23, 2017," he said.

"None of the procured goods, including indelible inks, pens and ballot and others were wasted and all were accordingly put to its intended use," added Laudiangco.

Meanwhile, Comelec Chairman George Garcia said there is a need to conduct training for poll workers for the conduct of the manual system of elections.

"Our poll workers that have gotten used to computerized elections will need to be trained for the return to manual elections," he said in an interview.