MANILA, Philippines — Amid bills to postpone the 2026 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) asked the House of Representatives to decide on the clear fate of the elections by September this year, citing possible time and logistical constraints in its preparations.
Comelec Chairperson George Erwin Garcia made the appeal during the hearing of the House committee on suffrage and electoral reforms on the proposed postponement of the 2026 BSKE, which is scheduled on November 2, 2026.
Several bills were filed separately, with most of them citing the economic and domestic crisis brought about by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
In her sponsorship speech, San Juan City lone district Rep. Ysabel Zamora, one of the authors of House Bill No. 10376, noted that the elections must be postponed for the government to focus on economic recovery instead.
READ: Negros solon says Congress to tackle fate of Nov. 2 BSKE
“Ang inyong Comelec ay handang-handang isagawa ang halalan natin sa darating na November 2. Ang amin lang pakiusap, sana po maging maliwanag ang lahat by September,” Garcia said in the hearing.
(The Comelec is ready to conduct the elections this coming November 2. We are just appealing to you to decide by September.)
Garcia said that the Comelec neither supports or opposes the proposed legislations, citing the absolute prerogative of the Congress on this matter.
He shared the current progress of Comelec’s preparations and the possible challenges if the elections will be postponed anew.
Garcia reported that the Comelec has completed the cleansing of registered voters and printing the ballots for the elections, which will be manual in nature.
He added that of the P19 billionallocated for the conduct of the polls, around P8 billion was already spent.
Further, if the elections this year will be postponed, Garcia appealed to the lawmakers to reset the polls not later than June next year.
“Ang aming pakiusap, huwag sanang lalampas sa kalahatian ng next year ng 2027 kasi critical sa amin ang June onwards ng 2027 sapagkat yun ang preparasyon para sa national and local elections,” he added.
READ: Escudero files bill extending barangay, SK officials’ terms to 5 years
(We also appeal to have the elections scheduled not later than June next year because June 2027 onwards will be critical for us for our preparations for the national and local elections.)
He said that if the elections do not push through this November, the Comelec will resume its voters’ registration drive by September this year.
The Comelec concluded its seven-month registration process from October 20, 2025 to May 18, 2026, where it received over 5.4 million voter applications.
He noted that the current list of voters that is usually posted outside polling precincts may not be used since the number of registered voters will increase; thus, there will be a change in the number of precincts.
He also shared that if the elections are reset, the printed ballots can still be reused, but the markers and indelible inks may go to waste since they have an expiration date.
He added that with the remaining P11 billion unspent funds, P9 billion will be allocated for the honoraria of approximately one million teachers who will serve as electoral board members in the elections. He added that P1 billion each will go to the training of the teachers and for the deployment of election materials. /gsg
The post Comelec to Congress: Decide on fate of 2026 barangay, SK polls by September appeared first on Inquirer.net.
