The postponement of the Dec. 5, 2022 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) polls to December 2023 will incur an additional P5 billion on top of the P8 billion that has been allocated for it, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) chief said on Tuesday, Aug. 16.
Comelec Chairman George Garcia attended the hearing of the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms hearing, presided by its chair, Mountain Province Rep. Maximo Dalog Jr., on the proposed postponement of the barangay and SK polls, which was approved on a vote of 12-2.
Although he said the poll body would be ready whether the polls would be conducted this year, in 2023, or in 2024, Garcia noted that the postponement will incur additional expenses on top of the budget of P8 billion originally set aside for the December 2022 schedule.
The additional P5 billion would include the expenses for the continuing registration and new registered voters, as well as the increase in the poll watchers’ honorarium.
Garcia also took the opportunity to ask the lawmakers to increase the honoraria of teaching personnel, noting that the tax exemption for teachers was recently vetoed by the President.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. vetoed the law that would provide exemption on the poll watchers’ honorarium, citing tax reforms and the need for a better tax collection system.
Quezon City 6th District Rep. Marivic Co-Pilar warned against using the supposed savings of P8 billion as an excuse for why the elections should be postponed.
READ: House committee votes to postpone barangay, SK polls to Dec 2023
She said it shouldn’t always be said that the postponement will save the government in funds and that the P8 billion can be used to help the economy recover because it would actually demand an additional P5 billion.
Garcia assured the House panel that the Comelec would “abide by the mandate of Congress and the executive as far as postponing the elections is concerned, whether May 2023 or Dec. 2023.”
However, he opposed the postponement to 2024 as pushed by other lawmakers because the poll body needs to prepare for the 2025 mid-term elections by that time.
Congress should not be worried about the Comelec’s capability to hold the elections because it is “ready, willing, and prepared,” Garcia added.
As of Tuesday, Aug. 16, Garcia said the commission had so far spent P800,000 from the P8.449 billion budget allocated for the conduct of the 2022 barangay and SK elections.
He reported that the Comelec would soon be starting the procurement of supplies and the printing of ballots.