Only ballpens and inks will have been wasted should a law postponing the Nov. 2, 2026 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) get enacted.

This was bared by Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Garcia during a hearing of the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms on Thursday, Aug. 13.

On the agenda were 12 House bills that sought to postpone the BSKE, with the proposed new date being either May 2027 or December 2028.

The measures--which aim to amend to Republic Act (RA) No. 12232--point to the global energy crisis, fuel price volatility, inflation, and logistical challenges as grounds for this deferment.

Since it was the mandate of Comelec to carry out the elections, Garcia expectedly assured the House members that the poll body would be able to conduct the BSKE as scheduled.

“Ang inyo pong Commission on Elections ay handa nang magsagawa ng halalan sa November 2. Sa level na 1 to 10, 9 kami sa paghahanda na. In fact po, na-print na namin ang lahat ng balota. Natapos kami sa ating cleansing ng list of voters. Nakapag-procure na po tayong mga dapat ma-procure,” Garcia said.

(Your Commission on Elections is ready to conduct the election on November 2. On a scale of 1 to 10, we are at 9 in terms of preparation. In fact, we have already printed all the ballots. We have finished cleansing the list of voters. We have procured everything that needed to be procured.)

According to Garcia, Comelec has already spent P8 billion out of the P19 billion allocated for the BSKE under the 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA) or national budget.

“Kung meron po siguro [na masasayang], titignan po namin yung mga tinta, yung mga ballpen, yung mga thumbprint takers at inedible ink sapagkat isang taon lang po kasi ang expiry dates ng mga yan. So may posibilidad po na matuyo, mag-iba ang kulay, hindi na sumulat yung mga ballpen,” he noted, as if to quell any potential regret from the solons if they do pursue the polls' deferment.

(Perhaps if there are items that will get wasted, we will check the inks, the ballpens, the thumbprint takers, and the indelible ink because their expiry dates are only one year. So there is a possibility they may dry up, change color, or the ballpens may stop working.)

Unlike the ballpens and inks, the printed ballot may have a longer shelf life, so to speak. Garcia the ballots that have already been printed can still be used even if the bills prosper and the BSKE gets rescheduled.

"Ang balota po hindi po masasayang. Kahit po ito’y may date na, we’ll just issue a resolution, ang sasabihin lang namin kung anong na-print na naming balota ay yun na rin po ang gagamitin namin sa isang reset na elections."

(The ballots will not go to waste. Even if they bear a date, we will just issue a resolution stating that the ballots already printed will still be used in a reset election.)

Garcia reminded the solons the upcoming BSKE was manual in nature, not automated.

He say that the remaining P11 billion from the BSKE allocation is with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM). Most of it will be used to compensate teachers who will conduct the manual polls.

“Yung P11 billion po na natitira, P9 billion ay para sa honoraria ng mga guro natin. More or less 1 milyon lahat sila na maglilingkod sa ating 225,000 na presinto sa buong Pilipinas. Yung natitira pong P1 bilyon naman ay para po sa training nila,” he explained.

Garcia said that should the BSKE get postponed, Comelec would have to reopen voter registration in order to accommodate those who failed to register.

In the end, the suffrage panel approved a motion to consolidate the various bills into one substitute bill.