Poll exec to Congress: Decide on BSKE postponement before end of September

OFFICIALS of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Cebu Province urged members of Congress and Senate to decide on postponing the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) soonest, especially since the scheduled filing of the certificates of candidacy (COC) for aspiring village officials is set in October of this year.

Lawyer Lionel Castillano, election supervisor for Comelec’s Cebu Provincial Office, told reporters on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2022, that lawmakers need to move fast in deciding if they are for or against postponing the BSKE to avoid wasting public funds.

Castillano said he has decided to extend the posting of its voters’ list until Sept. 30, so that public funds intended for printing would not be wasted in case the BSKE will not push through.

The House of Representatives on Tuesday, Sept. 13, passed on second reading a measure seeking to postpone the BSKE scheduled on Dec. 5, 2022 to Dec. 4, 2023.

Once passed for third and final reading, the measure will be forwarded to the Senate for deliberation before it will be signed by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

Castillano said if a law is passed to postpone the BSKE, their registration activities will continue however.

“Even if the BSKE is postponed, we will still ask the national government for an additional budget for registration activities. The budget we will be asking will depend on how many voters will register, which will eventually trickle down to how many clustered precincts will be established, how many election paraphernalia we will need to print and how much we will pay for those working during the elections,” Castillano added in Cebuano.

The Comelec has already secured an P8.4 billion budget from the national government for the BSKE.