More than P1B will go to waste with BARMM polls reset — Comelec

Around P1 billion worth of public funds might go down the drain following the Supreme Court’s (SC) last minute decision to declare unconstitutional the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) parliamentary elections that have been set on the last day of October.

According to Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Erwin Garcia, part of this amount had, in fact, already been spent on the printing of ballots and on partial payments to service providers, among other preparations for the supposed polls later this month.

He noted that the service providers of vote counting machines and transmission services had to be paid regardless if the elections pushed through or not.

“Yun pong mga makina, nirentahan po yan ng Comelec, at yung pagre-rent natin, dapat yung eleksyon Oct. 30. Ibig sabihin mangyari o hindi yung eleksyon, babayaran natin yung renta ng mga makina (All the machines have been rented by Comelec for the elections set on Oct. 30. So regardless if the elections pushes through or not, we must pay for it),” he said in a press conference on Thursday, Oct. 2.

“‘Yun din po mga Starlinks, yung transmission renta din po yan, mangyari o hindi yun eleksyon babayaran po natin, ganon po eh, negosyo po yan sa kanila (Even the transmission service from Starlinks, they are rented. This is their business so we have to pay for them),” he added.

Garcia made the remark after the Supreme Court (SC) declared unconstitutional the two laws–particularly the Bangsamoro Autonomy Act (BAA) Nos. 77 and 58–that reorganized the parliamentary districts within BARMM.

In light of the SC’s decision, the Bangsamoro Transition Authority Parliament must come up with a new measure creating the parliamentary districts of BARMM. This will effectively postpone the elections.

Garcia says the BARMM polls are reset to no later than March 31, 2026.

Why it is such a huge setback, Garcia explained, is because the poll body will have to reprint new ballots to contain names of new candidates that are expected to emerge.

Comelec will also need to do some “reverse logistics” of automated counting machines (ACMs) and other election paraphernalia that it had already distributed across the region, he added.

These are only some of the many problems that the poll body is now facing.

“Sure na back to zero po kami sa lahat ng aktibidad at preparasyon. Sure na mag-piprint tayo ng mga bagong balota, dahil siguradong may bagong districting na ipapasa ang Bangsamoro (Surely we’re back to zero as far as all our previous activities and preparations are concerned. For sure, we’ll need to reprint new ballots for new districting that will be passed),” he said.

Aside from that, the Bangsamoro Transition Authority Parliament might open again the filing for accreditation of political parties as well as sectoral organizations.

“In the meantime… lahat po ng kagamitan na nadeploy namin sa iba’t ibang probinsya ng Bangsamoro ay kailangan namin ipabalik… Ginastusan na namin ang pagpapadala, gagastusan muli namin yung mismong pagbabalik (all the equipment that we deployed will have to be returned. We already spent money for their deployment and we have to spend again for their return),” he added.

Garcia said that ACMs and other election paraphernalia must be returned to Comelec for reconfiguration.

As the SC just announced its decision on Wednesday, Oct. 1, Garcia said Comelec has yet to make a full accounting of the amount it already spent and will still spend.

“But to my understanding, it will not be less than P1 billion. It is P1 billion and above,” he said. “More or less, aminin po natin, lahat po yun maba-balewala (Let’s admit it: all of that will go to waste).”

He said the Comelec might ask the upper chamber or the Senate to replenish what was already spent from its P2.7-billion budget since the poll body’s 2026 funding already hurdled deliberations at the House of Representatives.

“Of course, kinakailangan pa po namin manghingi ng dagdag budget (we have to ask for more budget),” he said. — Joseph Pedrajas