THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) said it will not oppose Congress’ latest move to postpone the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) on one condition: the reset must not go beyond May 2027.
Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia stressed that pushing the polls past May would collide with the poll body’s full-scale preparations for the 2028 presidential elections, which begin in June 2027.
“The new date must not extend beyond May 2027, as preparations for the automated elections will already be in full swing by June,” Garcia said.
The House of Representatives is considering another reset of the BSKE, scheduled on Nov. 2 this year. Albee Benitez, deputy speaker and Bacolod City representative, proposed moving the elections and redirecting the P19-billion budget to mitigating the impact of soaring fuel prices and rising costs of basic goods amid the Middle East crisis.
Congress has appropriated P19 billion for the BSKE, of which roughly P3 billion has already been spent by Comelec for printing around 90 million ballots and other election-related procurements.
Garcia said that while Congress has the authority to reset elections, it cannot simply realign election funds to other uses. He pointed to 1987 Philippine Constitution, which prohibits the transfer of appropriations, except under specific conditions allowing limited augmentation within the same office.
Still, the Comelec chief said the remaining P16 billion could be declared as savings if the elections are postponed. The money would then be reverted to the National Treasury.
Garcia noted that any use of such funds must meet a “legitimate government interest,” citing a landmark Supreme Court ruling that struck down Republic Act 11935.
For now, the Comelec is pressing ahead with preparations for the Nov. 2 BSKE.
The last BSKE was held on Oct. 30, 2023. Meanwhile, Sen. JV Ejercito warned that the “productive years” of some aspiring young community leaders would go to waste if the youth council elections were postponed again.
The senator noted that the holding of the BSKE had been suspended before on various grounds. “Many of our fellow Filipinos wanted to choose their next leaders,” Ejercito said in Filipino.
“Perhaps, some young Filipinos may miss the opportunity to serve [the public] because they are way past their productive years,” he said.
He said that while Congress is empowered to suspend elections, it is necessary to study its legality.
“If the oil crisis would be the reason to postpone the BSKE, we must study whether it is within the guidelines issued by the SC (Supreme Court) in 2023,” Ejercito said.
Sen. Imee Marcos earlier supported the postponement of the local elections to allow the government use the P16-billion poll budget for the sectors affected by the oil crisis.
“At a time when the country is confronted with serious economic challenges brought about by the oil crisis, prudence demands that we prioritize the allocation of limited public resources,” Marcos said in a statement.
Marcos said the fund “can be more urgently directed toward addressing the immediate needs of our people, including rising fuel costs, food security and essential public services.”
“Equally important, postponement will allow our local officials to remain fully focused on governance and crisis response, rather than being drawn into the distractions of electoral politics,” she said. “In times such as these, continuity of leadership at the grassroots level can help ensure stability and more efficient delivery of public services.”
