Comelec needs P9B more for 2026 barangay, SK polls

Comelec headquarters in Intramuros, Manila. INQUIRER FILES

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is seeking up to P9 billion in additional funds for the 2026 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) to cover the honorariums of teachers and expenses for new voters.

During the House committee on appropriations hearing on Monday, Comelec Chair George Garcia said the P9 billion would be added to the P10 billion BSKE budget that will be carried over for the elections that were moved to November 2026.

“We will submit to the committee the exact computation. With the additional honoraria for teachers, we will need around P9 billion, which will be added to our continuing appropriation,” he added.

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Garcia said that teachers and poll workers who served in the May midterm elections received a P2,000 across-the-board increase in honorariums, but there was no such allocation in the approved BSKE budget.

Last month, President Marcos signed Republic Act No. 12232, which postponed the BSKE set on Dec. 1 this year to Nov. 2, 2026, reset the elections to every four years, and extended the terms of barangay and SK officials to four years, from the current three years under the Local Government Code of 1991. INQ