The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is eyeing to start the printing of official ballots for the Dec. 5, 2022 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan polls next month.
In an online forum on Sunday, August 14, Comelec Chairman George Garcia said based on their timetable, they need to start printing the ballots in Sept.
"We need to print the ballots starting Sept. The most that we can print in a day is 4 million since we have more than 70 million voters inclusing SK," he said.
"You can just imagine how tight our timetable is in printing the ballots, in verifying if the size, color and positions are correct," added Garcia.
At present, he said, they already started procurement of some of the election paraphernalia such as the padlocks for the ballot boxes.
Garcia said they will also start procuring ballpens, indelible ink, and ballot paper.
Meanwhile, the poll chief said, it might be a good idea for lawmakers to consider giving longer terms to barangay and SK officals.
"It may be good to consider that, maybe, three years is really short for barangay and SK officials," said Garcia.
"Lawmakers may also consider stating in the law setting, for example, five-year terms for barangay and SK officials," he added.
However, Garcia said, this shouldn't be granted by resetting the next elections, but rather by providing it in the laws.
The barangay and SK polls have been postponed thrice already since 2016 resulting to all incumbent barangay and SK officials remaining in office on hold-over capacity.