Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 14) –A Supreme Court (SC) ruling was badly needed to appeal the conduct of two elections in 2025, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said on Thursday during the Senate finance subcommittee’s hearing on the poll body’s proposed P21.34 billion budget.
According to Comelec, the copy for the decision has not been released for more than two months after its announcement.
On June 27, a law that postponed the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) from Dec. 5, 2022 to the last Monday of October 2023 was declared unconstitutional by the SC.
It also set the next polls to December 2025, just seven months after the midterm elections.
Comelec Chairman George Garcia said the poll body will have to work double time to simultaneously prepare for the two elections.
He added that if the court wanted to be “firm on the regularity or periodicity” of the elections, then the next polls should be in 2026.
The Supreme Court’s decision would also shorten the term of elected officials, he noted.
Garcia said the Comelec will file a motion for reconsideration when it receives a copy of the high court ruling.
“Ang tagal na ha. Anong balita? Kailan daw lalabas? Ang lapit na ng eleksyon a,” said Sen. Imee Marcos, chaiperson of the Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms, questioning the long wait.
She wondered why the ponente, Associate Justice Antonio T. Kho Jr., made a departure from his opinion when he was Comelec commissioner.
“Lahat tayo nagulat sa decision lalong lalo na sa ponente, dahil sitting exactly where you’re sitting now when he was a member of the commission, he actually testified to this committee that it will be inconvenient and very difficult to have two elections in a single year,” Sen. Marcos added.
Asked if she is planning to write to the Supreme Court about it, the senator stressed the need to pay courtesy to a co-equal and independent branch of government.
The Comelec requested a P44-billion budget for next year, but the budget department slashed P17.4 billion.
Garcia again appealed for the restoration of at least P5.7 billion “so the preparation for the national elections will not be sacrificed.”
“Di ba po dapat nga December 5, 2022 nag registration po kami,” Garcia said. “Nag-increase ang number of voters kasama SK, ngayon po 91 million kasama SK. Nag-increase din number of precincts, number of electoral board members, pati ballot boxes, saka yung overtime.”
This year, the Comelec had to request P2.5 billion from the contingent fund of the Office of the President just so the BSKE could push through on Oct. 30.
After a four-hour hearing, the subpanel endorsed the Comelec’s budget to the Senate Committee on Finance. Marcos could not say for certain if the poll body’s request for additional allocation can be granted.
