COC filing, gun ban to push through amid talks to postpone 2022 barangay, SK polls —Comelec

The Commission on Elections will push through with its timeline which includes dates for the filing of the certificates of candidacy and the start of gun ban amid Congress' push to postpone the 2022 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE), Comelec Chairman George Garcia said Monday. 

"Ang mga schedule po ay mananatili. 'Yung October 6 to 13 na filing ng candidacy ay mananatili. And therefore, beginning po ng October 6 ay simula na rin po 'yan ng tinatawag natin na election period," Garcia said in a radio interview.

(The schedules will remain. The October 6-13 [schedule of] filing of [certificates of] candidacy will remain. And therefore, the election period will start on October 6.)

"At dahil diyan ay magsisimula na rin ang ating gun ban at iba pang mga consequence or mga iba pang epekto ng pagkakaroon ng tinatawag natin ng election period. So hindi po kami nagbabago sa kasalukuyan ng mga timetable po namin lalo na rin po sa paghahanda at preparasyon po namin," he added.

(And because of that, the gun ban and other consequences or effects of the election period will start. So we will not change the schedules as part of our preparations.)

The poll body chairman said they will also push through with the printing of the ballots and the training of the teachers who will serve as election workers.

As stipulated in Comelec Resolution No. 10831, the filing of COCs for aspiring barangay and SK officials is set from October 6 to 13 except for October 9; the gun ban will be implemented from October 6 to December 12; and the campaign period is scheduled from November 25 to December 3.

The BSKE is scheduled on December 5, 2022.

Garcia recently said the Comelec is 80% ready for the conduct of BSKE.

He reiterated that the procured materials for the BSKE can still be used in succeeding elections should Congress pass a law for the postponement of the local polls in December.

In August, the House Suffrage and Electoral Reforms Committee voted to postpone the December 5 BSKE.

Two bills seeking the postponement of the 2022 BSKE were also filed in the Senate but  these are still pending at the committee level.

Some election watchdogs have expressed opposition to the planned postponement of the barangay and SK polls anew.

The National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL) earlier urged the poll commission to set a date for the conduct of the next BSKE, arguing that the Constitution gives Comelec the authority to “[d]ecide, except those involving the right to vote, all questions affecting elections, including determination of the number and location of polling places, appointment of election officials and inspectors, and registration of voters.”

Should the elections be deferred, this will mark the fourth time that Congress postponed the barangay and SK elections since October 2016.

The October 2016 barangay and SK polls were postponed to October 2017. From then, it was postponed to May 2018. It was again reset to May 2022. —KG, GMA News