Comelec eyes larger budget, online registration if BSKE moved to 2026
Inquirer file photo
MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will ask for more funds for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) if these will be postponed to cover the expenses for new voter registrants, Comelec Chair George Garcia said on Monday.
The P11-billion budget for the BSKE is still intact and will automatically be carried over for next year if the elections are postponed from Dec. 1 this year to the first Monday of Nov. 2026, according to Garcia.
President Marcos earlier said he would sign the proposed bill seeking to extend the current three-year term of elected BSK officials despite Garcia’s pronouncement that the bill will lapse into law by Aug. 14.
“If there is a reset, we will ask for an additional budget because there are 2.8 million new voter registrants,” said Garcia, adding that the resetting of the elections was not included in their budget proposal for 2026 since there was no prior law pushing for a postponement at the time it was submitted.
READ: Comelec says it’s ready for next voters’ registration
“We need additional budget for more ballots, precincts, teaching staff, and election paraphernalia,” he said.
Target exceeded
Garcia shared that the 10-day period for the registration of voters, which ran from Aug. 1 to Aug. 10, garnered around 2.8 million applicants, with 65 percent to 67 percent coming from the youth sector. The number of applicants exceeded the poll body’s target of 1.5 million.
With the Comelec’s plan to hold another round of voters’ registration from October 2025 until July 2026 if the election is reset, Garcia sees a total of 4 million new registrations.
“If new voter registrants increase, we may ask for an additional budget of P4 billion,” he said.
With the postponement of the BSKE still uncertain, Garcia said the Comelec pushed through with the procurement of election materials to avoid being caught unprepared for any eventuality.
But should the elections be moved to next year, the Comelec plans to implement the e-registration or online registration system during the next registration of voters in October 2026.
Almost a certainty
“I am almost sure that this will be implemented—the e-register or the online application for registration. But [new voters] will still need to go to their local Comelec to have their pictures and fingerprints taken,” Garcia said.
“That is necessary for the biometrics to be compared with our existing registrations, so registration sites will not be crowded by just submitting their forms,” he added.
Garcia noted that the system of online registration will automatically generate a schedule for when registrants should visit their local Comelec office to have their biometrics, pictures and other data taken. Should they miss their schedule, they will have to resubmit their application because the first one will be considered void. /cb
