WHILE the fate of the December 2022 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) polls remains uncertain, over P700,000 have already been spent by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) preparing for it.
The Comelec has allotted a P8,441,280,000 budget for the December 5 polls.
In a statement, acting Elections spokesman John Rex Laudiangco said: “The budget for the 2022 BSKE consisting of allotments and the corresponding cash allocations in the total amount of P8,441,280,000.00 is still in the coffers of [the] Comelec, and remains unspent except for the very minimal amount.”
He said P225,360.00 has already been spent for supplies under Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses, while the remaining P500,000 has been obligated for their national conference-workshop activity.
Elections chairman George Garcia said that until a law is passed postponing the village and youth polls, the Comelec will continue their preparations for the forthcoming poll exercise.
He said Commissioner Rey Bulay has already been designated as head of the Steering Committee for the December 5 polls, which means that there shall be continued expenditures for the barangay and SK polls preparations.
“Any procurement of goods will not be of waste should the proposed postponement/resetting be approved into law, as the same may be utilized in the new date of BSKE,” said Garcia.
Aside from procuring election supplies, he said they will also 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,” said Garcia.
To note, several lawmakers have filed measures in Congress aiming to postpone the barangay and SK polls with a hope of diverting the funds to the government’s COVID-19 response and economic stimulus.
Meanwhile, Garcia said whether the BSKE polls push through or not, the Comelec will hold five plebiscites for the remainder of the year.
“Holding any electoral exercise is not dependent on any other poll exercise. The Comelec knows fully well that holding an election followed by plebiscites really happen. We cannot delay plebiscites because it is provided in the law when we should be holding it.”
Similarly, he said the people anticipating the plebiscite are already eager to cast their votes.
The Comelec is set to hold scheduled plebiscites for the creation of Barangay New Canaan into a regular barangay in the municipality of Alabel, province of Saranggani (August 20, 2022); conversion of the municipality of Calaca into a component city of the province of Batangas (September 3, 2022); the division of the province of Maguindanao into two districts and independent provinces (September 17, 2022); the merger of Barangay District 1 with Barangay District 28 and the renaming of Barangay 29 in Ormoc City, province of Leyte (October 8, 2022); and the conversion of the municipality of Baliwag into a component city of the province of Bulacan (no date yet).
