Comelec says BSKE preps not wasted if polls are postponed

MANILA, Philippines — The preparations of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for the 2026 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) will continue and will not be wasted even if the elections will be postponed, its chairperson George Erwin Garcia said on Tuesday. 

Garcia made this comment after Deputy Speaker and Bacolod City Rep. Albee Benitez called for the six-month postponement of the BSKE, which is scheduled on November 2, 2026, due to the crisis brought by the tension in the Middle East. Since then, the oil price continues to surge, which has affected many livelihoods. 

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Garcia said that the Comelec will not oppose the postponement as the discretion lies within the Congress, emphasizing that the lawmaker’s intention is in good place and is a legitimate government interest. Benitez said that the funds allocated for the conduct of the elections can help the Filipinos affected by the crisis.

“We can give suggestions, recommendations but in the end, [the Congress] has the final say on when the elections will be held or if these should be postponed,” Garcia, speaking Filipino, told reporters during an interview.

However, Garcia said that transferring a budget allocated for a certain government agency or activity to another agency or item is not allowed under the Article 6, Section 25 (5) of the 1986 Constitution. 

The provision states that “[n]o law shall be passed authorizing any transfer of appropriations; however, the President, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and the heads of Constitutional Commissions may, by law, be authorized to augment any item in the general appropriations law for their respective offices from savings in other items of their respective appropriations.”

Garcia shared that as the Comelec allotted P19 billion for the conduct of the BSKE, around P3 billion had already been spent while the remaining P16 billion is yet to be released by the Department of Budget and Management. He noted that if the elections are postponed, the unused funds can be declared as savings and remitted to the National Treasury. 

“It means that, if we can save from it, we can not spend the P19 billion yet but it cannot be used for aid to help our fellow citizens because it is allotted under the general appropriations act,” Garcia added.

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Further, Garcia said that no preparations will go to waste if the elections will be rescheduled, even if the poll body already spent P3 billion in procuring materials and printing official ballots. Should the postponement push through, Garcia said that the printed ballots, ballot boxes, and even the indelible inks can still be used in the rescheduled elections. 

However, he said that the rescheduling must be done until May 2027 so the poll body can focus its preparations for the 2028 national and local elections.

“Comelec’s preparations will not be wasted because this can still be used in the November 2 elections or if it will be reset,” he said in Filipino.

“It means that the Comelec will not oppose the postponement. We will not also stop our preparations because there is currently a law setting the elections on November 2. But ofcourse, we will always abide by the rules of Congress and the Executive,” he added.

Since the Comelec resumed its voters’ registration drive last October 20, it has processed a total of 3,909,634 applications as of April 11, 2026. Most of the applications came from Region IV-A. 

Meanwhile, Garcia warned the public that social media accounts offering to process voter certification in exchange of a fee is unauthorized. He noted that the voter certification is given for free, and that the Comelec does not collect a fee for its processing. /jpv