The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said on Sunday that they expect Congress to announce by the end of the month whether the 2022 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections will be postponed or held in December.
Comelec chairperson George Garcia disclosed that they are looking forward to the conduct of elections despite calls to postpone it to save P.8.141 billion and realign it for the government’s pandemic response.
“There are many pending bills at the House of Representatives. We expect before the end of August, there will be a light if the Barangay and SK elections will proceed,” Garcia said, adding that he believes that the polls should push through.
“An election is a way to replace the corrupt, worthless, and non-performers in the government. At the same time, it is also an opportunity to retain leaders who we think are worthy to lead us continuously,” Garcia said.
“It is right to hold an election. However, we recognize that Congress has absolute discretion on whether to postpone or continue the upcoming SK and barangay election,” he added.
Last week, Garcia disclosed that only P5 million out of the P8.4 billion budget for the Barangay and SK polls have been spent for voter registration. They have yet to spend money on the printing of official ballots and other election-related expenses.