Comelec: P3B for BARMM polls reset

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) needs an additional budget of P3 billion if the Bangasamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) parliamentary polls are reset. Chairman George Erwin Garcia on Thursday said they can lower this to P2.5 due to budgetary constraints on the part of the national government, but said a sizable amount of the budget would go to the honoraria of teachers who will serve during the parliamentary elections. "We understand the tight financial space on the part of the government. So we need to squeeze the budget to P2.5 billion to hold the BARMM parliamentary elections," he added. Garcia also noted that based on the draft bill that he saw, no specific amount was mentioned though it stated that the funding for the regional parliamentary polls would be sourced from the current budget appropriation or the budget department could take it from other existing budgets. He said if the president signs the bill postponing the BARMM elections into law, the Comelec could start preparations all over again for the region, and print new ballots by July or August. But Garcia also pointed out that it is possible also that the parliamentary polls, depending on the final version of the proposed law, could be considered as a continuation of the national and local elections to be held in May. "If it is a continuation of the national and local elections, the Comelec need not conduct a new bidding. Those that we already procured would only be amended from the original contract so that we need not conduct any new procurement. It all depends on the law that the president will sign," he added. He said it would be easier and cheaper if the parliamentary polls would be considered a continuation of the regular elections. "If it is a special separate election, there will also be a separate number of teachers, new number of polling precincts and new election paraphernalia," Garcia added. Either way, Garcia said, the Comelec would do it but pointed out that the law resetting the BARMM parliamentary polls should be approved earlier so that they can focus on their preparation for the May elections. "Take note [if ever] we will conduct the BARMM parliamentary elections in October, by December we will also conduct the BSKE (Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections). So we will simultaneously prepare for the BSKE and the BARMM," he said. Also on Thursday, Senate President Francis Escudero said due to the lack of time before Congress adjourns on Feb. 7, he hoped the House of Representatives would simply adopt the Senate version of the bill postponing the BARMM elections. On Wednesday, Escudero said that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had certified as urgent a measure seeking to postpone the BARMM elections, Both chambers of Congress recently approved their respective versions of the postponement proposal. The House of Representatives approved House Bill (HB) 11144, which would move the first regular election in BARMM to the second Monday of May 2026 and every three years thereafter. The Senate, on the other hand, has approved, on second reading a bill to reschedule the BARMM parliamentary elections from May to October this year. With the Palace's certification, Escudero is confident that the Senate will be able to pass its version of the bill on Monday next week. In November 2024, Marcos stated that they were carefully considering the possibility of postponement due to the "unintended consequence" of the Supreme Court's ruling that removed Sulu from the BARMM. On Sept. 9, 2024, the Supreme Court affirmed the constitutionality of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) but notably excluded Sulu from the BARMM, declaring this decision final and effective immediately. "The seven districts within BARMM that are in Sulu now lack representation in Congress and don't belong to a province. Additionally, eight areas are without a municipality, district, or province. All of these were once part of BARMM," the president said.