Comelec may hold Dasmariñas, Cavite special polls on Aug. 22 or 29

MANILA, Philippines — Following the expulsion of former Cavite 4th District Rep. Kiko Barzaga from the House of Representatives, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) may hold the special elections in the lone district in Dasmariñas, Cavite on August 22 or 29, 2026. 

Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia made this statement on Wednesday following Barzaga’s expulsion on Tuesday due to the former lawmaker’s “disruptive” and “disorderly behavior.”

READ: House expels Barzaga over ‘disruptive’ and ‘disorderly’behavior

Garcia noted that the special elections should be held no earlier than 60 days and no later than 90 days after the vacancy of the post. 

“Based on our initial discussion, we may hold the elections on August 22 or August 29,” Garcia told reporters in an interview. 

He also said that the target date of the elections should not stretch to September as the first Bangsamoro Parliamentary elections are scheduled on September 14.

He noted that special elections should be held outside the one-year window before the 2028 national and local elections. 

“It seems that we need to prepare for this already because we only have almost three months,” he noted.

Garcia also added that the poll body does not need a notice from the House of Representatives for the conduct of the elections, citing a Supreme Court (SC) ruling. 

The SC earlier ruled that the poll body can conduct special elections to fill a vacant congressional seat even without a resolution from the Congress.

It issued the ruling following its dismissal of a petition filed by Elroy John Hagedorn asking the high court to compel the lower chamber to officially declare a vacancy in the third district of Palawan and hold special elections. 

The post was vacated by Rep. Edward Hagedorn, who was elected in 2022 but died in October 2023. 

Given that the classes will already start once the elections are held, Garcia said that he will write to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to make the election day a holiday in the lone district in Dasmariñas, Cavite. 

The last time that the poll body conducted special polls was on March 14, 2026 after the death of Rep. Romeo Acop in December 2025.

Acop’s son, Philip Conrad or “Bong,” was elected after obtaining 60,051 of 82,796 votes. 

READ: Comelec sees need for funds for possible after Barzaga’s ouster

How this will affect the Bangsamoro polls, BSKE

Garcia acknowledged the challenges surrounding the conduct of the special elections, given that they almost coincide with the Bangsamoro parliamentary elections and Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE). 

“We can’t get funds from an item allocated for the BSKE to be transferred to the special elections,” he said.

The poll body will need around P200 million to fund the special elections, as there are a total of 437,730 registered voters in the region. /apl