Garcia: Comelec has no funds for BARMM parliamentary elections resetting

Comelec chair George Garcia speaking in a news conference at the Comelec BARMM regional office just hours before the acceptance of COCs by the poll body. (Photo taken on Nov. 4, 2024 by DXMS RADIO.)

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has no funds for the resetting of the first Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Parliamentary elections, Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said on Wednesday.

Garcia previously said that at least P2.5 billion would be needed if the Parliamentary elections get rescheduled.

READ: P2.5 billion needed if BARMM parliamentary elections delayed – Comelec

“As of now, we don’t have 2.5 [billion pesos]. We don’t know where we will source the funds. We don’t have savings,” Garcia said in Filipino during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum in Malate, Manila.

“We were not expecting the elections to reset, so we need 2.5 billion [pesos],” Garcia added in Filipino.

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Garcia also noted that the additional fund is not included in the 2025 national budget. He said that conducting the elections depends on the budget allotted to them.

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“Holding the elections depends on our budget approved for 2025. It includes the salary for the teachers; 65% of Comelec’s spending goes to the honoraria for the teachers,” he stated.

The poll body chief previously shared that as the BARMM polls are supposedly anchored on the national and local elections, the Comelec has saved costs as they would use the same teachers, machines, ballot boxes, and other equipment, except for the ballots.

He also added that if the Parliamentary elections were rescheduled, it would be considered a separate election.

The bill rescheduling the Parliamentary elections from May 12, 2025, to October 13, 2025, was ratified and approved in the bicameral conference committee report by the Senate on Tuesday.

READ: Garcia hopes for reapportionment of Sulu seats in BARRM parliament

Sen. JV Ejercito, during the chamber’s plenary session, said that “next election shall be held and synchronized with the 2028 National Elections and every three years thereafter.”

Garcia on Tuesday called for the Congress to reapportion or distribute the seven seats of Sulu if the BARMM polls get rescheduled. Sulu, once part of the region, was originally allotted seven seats in the parliament.