Imee Marcos cool to barangay polls postponement, but leaves decision to panel

Senator Imee Marcos said on Tuesday she is against the proposal to postpone the 2022 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections until next year.

But she added she is leaving the final decision up to the Senate panel.

“I will admit that in my personal opinion, we should not postpone, having made the promise to Senator Drillon in the 18th Congress that this will be the last postponement," the chairperson of the Senate electoral reforms committee said in a hearing.

"However, like the Comelec (Commission on Elections), I am here at your disposal and with better judgment,” she added.

Last week, the House Suffrage and Electoral Reforms committee voted to postpone the December 5, 2022 barangay and SK polls to December 4, 2023.

The House panel likewise carried the motion setting the tenure of those who will be elected in December 2023 and thereafter for three years.

Those elected during the December 2023 polls will start their term at noon of January 1, 2024.

On Monday, National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL) also opposed the postponement. It also urged the Comelec to set a date on the next conduct of the barangay polls.

Budget was overstated

Meanwhile, Marcos also questioned Comelec’s budget allocation for the conduct of the polls, saying that the increase “was overstated.”

“Kung tutuusin ang number of voters and clustered precincts wala pang 15%... bakit ang increase ng budget ay 230%?...Dapat the P8.5 billion, the existing budget, plus 15% lang,” the senator said.

“With all due respect, kapag nasa barangay at SK iilan lang naman ang boto. So, ibig sabihin mabilis lang din sila mag-consolidate kasi kokonti lang naman bawat barangay… so ‘yung sinasabing overtime (pay ng poll workers) at limpak-limpak na salapi sa mga additional workers palagay ko ay overstated,” she added.

Comelec chairperson George Garcia said the poll body's P8.4 billion budget for the December 5, 2022 barangay and SK elections was given to them before the tax exemption on the teachers’ honoraria was vetoed.

Garcia also said they would need some P17.09 billion if the holding of the polls  would be moved to May 2023 while P18.4 billion if it will be held in December to compensate for their request to raise poll workers' honoraria.

“We have to understand that the number of poll workers will increase, because of the increase likewise of the polling precincts from 207,000 to 239,00 if we are going to conduct the elections in 2023,” he said.

The Comelec chief, however, clarified that P5 billion would be deducted from the projected budget if the honoraria of poll workers would not increase.

The honoraria for each member of the Electoral Board and an Electoral Board chairperson ranges from P6,000 to P10,000.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had vetoed the measure that exempted poll duty compensation from taxes.

Meanwhile, Garcia disclosed that by the end of September this year, the Comelec would only have P7.5 billion for barangay and SK elections “due to preliminary expenses.”—LDF, GMA News