THE COMMISSION on Elections (Comelec) on Monday said it might have budget issues if village and youth council elections and national and local elections were held in 2025, after a Supreme Court ruling set the former to every December starting that year.
The agency would appeal the ruling that voided the law postponing this year’s village and youth elections and set these on every first Monday of December starting in 2025, Election Chairman George Erwin M. Garcia told a summit streamed live on Facebook.
He said the election body would need to ask for more budget for preparations if the elections were held in the same year and if both were automated.
“We agree with the Supreme Court’s guidelines on postponing the elections, but the issue of conducting the elections within the same year would need clarification,” Mr. Garcia said in mixed English and Filipino.
He added that the Commission on Elections would file its motion for reconsideration once it receives a copy of the tribunal’s decision.
The 2025 national and local elections would cost about P25 billion, including the lease of 128,000 vote-counting machines, Mr. Garcia said. The election body needs another P25 billion for village and youth council elections if these were held in December 2025.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. in October signed into law the postponement of village elections, which were originally scheduled for December last year, to the last Monday of October 2023 and every three years thereafter. The High Court said in its decision there was no compelling reason to delay the vote.
“The court found that there was no legitimate government interest or objective to support the legislative measure and that the law unconstitutionally exceeds the bounds of Congress’ power to legislate,” it said, citing the decision written by Associate Justice and former Election Commissioner Antonio T. Kho, Jr.
Mr. Garcia earlier said the ruling would not change its preparation for the elections and was “addressed to the political departments of our government for future guidance.”
In March, Comelec said it would discard 98,000 vote-counting machines to make way for new equipment.
Last year, the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines urged Comelec to review the automated election system and enforce measures that would discourage members of political dynasties from being elected. — John Victor D. Ordoñez