Atin Ito First Filipino Community Newspaper in Ontario
THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) will have to hold two elections in 2025 following the decision of the Supreme Court declaring as unconstitutional the postponement of the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) to October 30.
Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said during a briefing on Thursday that as result of the Supreme Court ruling, the commission has to double up its preparations because the midterm elections are also scheduled for May 2025.
The combined polls were originally scheduled for Dec. 5, 2022.
In declaring Republic Act (RA) 11935, the law postponing the BSKE as unconstitutional, the court also ruled that the next BSKE “shall be held on the first Monday of December 2025 and every three years thereafter…”
Under RA 9340, the barangay and SK elections should be held every three years. But since 2018, the elections have been postponed thrice. The Dec. 5, 2022 elections should have been held in May 2020.
Garcia said the Comelec will need additional funding for the two elections in 2025.
“If necessary, we will also automate the barangay and SK polls which are also highly expensive,” he said.
Comelec will use a new election technology in the 2025 midterm polls that is not only fully automated but also has full transparency features.
There have been criticisms that the old technology that uses vote counting machines (VCMs) is not transparent enough.
Garcia said the Comelec en banc has already approved the terms of reference for the shift from VCM to a faster and modern automatic counting machine (ACM).
Garcia said he could not provide a ballpark figure for the budget because the commission has not received bids from interested parties.
He said the Comelec will lease the ACMs for two years.
The commission will sideline the 98,000 VCMs it bought from Smartmatic Corp. in 2013 and which it used during three local and national elections. By technology standards, the machines should have been replaced after five years.
Garcia said the initial funding will be spent on preparations for the shift into the new system, which will include educating the voters on how to use the ACMs.
The remainder and bulk of the budget will pay for the honoraria of teachers who will be on election duty. — William B. Depasupil
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