Comelec says ballot printing for brgy, SK polls finished by 1st week of October

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is expecting to finish the printing of ballots for next month's barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections by first week of October.

"Matatapos natin ang pag-imprenta ng balota by the first week of October," said Comelec chairman Andres Bautista in a press conference on Wednesday.

According to Bautista, the total number of ballots to be printed for the October 23 barangay elections is 43,743,958.

He said as of Wednesday morning, the printing committee was able to print 26,189,091 ballots or almost 60 percent of the total number.

Meanwhile, for the SK ballots, a total number of 15,804,452 ballots are needed to be printed.

Bautista said 11 percent of this number was already printed or a total of 1,761,764 ballots.

Bautista also mentioned that as of last week, the estimated cost of expenses for the ballot printing was P500 million.

The Comelec chief reiterated that the agency prefers to move the barangay and SK elections to May 2018 if it would not push through next month.

"Ayaw namin na ang aming halalan ay magkakadikit. Meron tayong May 2019 elections at ang ayaw natin ay October dahil masyadong malapit sa May 2019 elections. So ang pakiusap natin ay kung ipagpaliban man, May 2018," Bautista said.

President Rodrigo Duterte has pushed for the postponement of barangay elections and replace incumbent officials with appointive officers-in-charge, as he alleged that 40 percent of barangay officials are involved in illegal drugs.

The House of Representatives already approved in final reading the postponement of polls while the Senate has yet to approve a similar bill filed by Senator Vicente Sotto III. —KBK, GMA News