Comelec to Congress: Decide on barangay, SK polls

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is asking Congress to resolve the question on whether the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections will push through on Dec. 5.

Acting Comelec spokesman John Rex Laudiangco asked the question during a recent virtual forum hosted by Stratbase ADR Institute.

Comelec is hoping that Congress will decide on the elections immediately because there are only less than five months before the scheduled polls.

“We are just hoping and praying that, if indeed, an RA (Republic Act) will come out, it should come out the soonest possible time,” Laudiangco said, pointing out that this could immediately determine if the poll body should proceed with procurements in preparation for the elections.

“This is so that we can postpone any other procurement that we have not yet concluded,” he added.

The goods and services being procured can be used on a later date to be set by a law postponing the elections, according to Laudiangco.

“Thus, there is no wastage in our ongoing preparations for the barangay and SK elections,” he said.

Aside from conducting procurement activities, the Comelec official mentioned that they would just continue with other aspects of their preparations until a law is passed postponing the electoral exercise.

“Until such time that a new law is passed resetting or rescheduling the elections, the Comelec shall continue to comply with the dictates of RA 11462 and continue with our preparations,” he said, referring to An Act Postponing the May 2020 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections, which rescheduled the local polls to Dec. 5 this year.

Some members of the House of Representatives earlier proposed to postpone the barangay and SK elections to save on funds and for the government to reuse these for its COVID-19 response.

Meticulous review

Meanwhile, acting Comelec Chair Socorro Inting is pushing for a meticulous review of the current vote counting machines (VCMs) to determine if these could still be used for the midterm elections scheduled in 2025.

“I think everyone will agree to a meticulous discussion and review of the propriety of using these VCMS in future elections,” Inting said during the same virtual forum.

She pointed out the need to assess the more than 97,000 VCMs that are said to be 13 years old and were used during the 2016, 2019 and 2022 elections.

Apart from those, the Comelec also leased an additional 10,000 VCM units to supplement the existing units during the elections last May 9.

Laudiangco said 1,295 VCMs malfunctioned during the May 9 elections. This includes the 818 and 477 units that malfunctioned during the final testing and sealing and on election day, respectively.

“We have to admit that there were failures in the VCMs,” he added.

This is lower than the 2,256 units that were defective during the 2019 midterm polls.