Comelec to start preparations for barangay polls in June — Garcia

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will already start the arrangements next month for the December 2022 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections despite calls for its postponement, poll Commissioner George Garcia said Thursday.

“Definitely this coming June, we will already start the ball rolling for the preparations for the barangay and SK elections. We cannot presume that Congress will not be proceeding with the elections. We still have to prepare. Napakahirap naman po kung bandang September, bigla na lang matutuloy pala tapos wala kaming paghahanda [it will be hard for us if it suddenly pushes through by September and we have not prepared anything],” Garcia said in an ANC interview.

He made the remark following the statement of House Majority Leader Ferdinand Martin Romualdez that more than P8 billion worth of savings could be generated if the barangay elections this year would be postponed.

Romualdez suggested that such billions of funds could instead be allocated for the COVID-19 response and economic stimulus, and aid especially among those who suffered from the pandemic.

Garcia had earlier echoed this take, saying that the poll body will heed the decision of Congress on the matter.

He said the P8.6 billion allocated for the  2022 barangay and SK elections is still intact.

“Until today, I can honestly tell you that intact po ang P8.6 billion. Wala pa po kaming releases from the DBM (we don’t have releases from the Department of Budget and Management yet),” he said.

Garcia also noted that the voter registration is set to reopen by July for those who wish to register or reactivate.

The Comelec will also start working on the printing of certain election documents, procurement of election equipment, and training of poll workers.

The October 2016 barangay and SK polls were postponed to October 2017. From then, it was postponed to May 2018. It was again reset to May 2022.

Unlike the national and local elections, which have been fully automated since 2010, the 2022 barangay elections would be a manual election. — RSJ, GMA News