100M voters expected to register for Barangay, SK polls — Comelec

Commission on Elections. Inquirer file photo.

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday said it expects 100 million voters to participate in the upcoming Barangay and Sangguniang Elections (BSKE), which has been postponed to November next year.

“Currently, we have 68,921,863 voters in the entire Philippines… our projection, maybe we will reach, for the Barangay and SK, we have 24 million Sangguniang Kabataan, maybe we will reach 100 million voters in the upcoming elections,” Comelec Chair George Erwin Garcia said in an ambush interview.

Garcia noted that upcoming BSKE elections will also be done manually, which means “you can expect the elections to be longer, take more time compared to an automated election… because teachers will count the ballots manually.”

READ: Comelec receives over 2.7 million registrations in 10 days for BSKE

However, he said the honoraria for teachers who will serve during the BSKE will have an across-the-board increase, noting that the House of Representatives has approved an additional P7.46-billion budget for the Comelec to conduct the elections.

Garcia said he also expects the Senate to approve the additional budget.

“When the Barangay and SK elections were postponed, that meant that the Comelec needed an additional budget. When you postpone an election in our country, [that means] additional teachers, additional precincts, additional ballot boxes, and additional election paraphernalia,” said the Comelec chief.

According to Garcia, around 3 million individuals have already registered for the BSKE elections. Registration for the BSKE is currently suspended until Nov. 2 in commemoration of All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days, but will resume on Nov. 3 until May 18 next year, he noted.

READ: Comelec terminates preparations for BSKE after postponement

“To our people, let’s not wait until May. It’s better to register early, especially for the youth,” the Comelec chief urged. “Especially for those who are not yet 15 years old, you can still register as long as you are 15 at the time of the Barangay and SK elections on Nov. 2.”

As for its preparations for the upcoming BSKE, Garcia said the Comelec has already begun the procurement process of election materials, with 50 million ballots already printed. Garcia earlier said that the Comelec aims to finish the printing of ballots by December.

On the other hand, Garcia expressed concern over the conduct of preparations for Bangsamoro parliamentary elections due to the lack of a new redistricting law after the Supreme Court declared as unconstitutional the two regional laws previously passed by the Bangsamoro Transition Authority.

READ: Comelec commits to conduct BARMM polls before SC-set deadline

“Currently, the Comelec is still waiting on the law that they will pass, regarding the redistricting in the Bangsamoro,” he said. “We were given a timetable by the Supreme Court. As much as possible, the elections should be conducted before the end of March next year.”

“But of course, the Bangsamoro [Transition Authority] has a corresponding responsibility to create a law by Oct. 30 only. As of yesterday, they were only on the second reading of their proposed law,” he added. /mr