Comelec to seek additional P1.3-B budget for 2026 BARMM polls

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is eyeing to request an additional P1.3 billion budget from the Senate following the postponement of the first-ever Bangsamoro parliamentary elections.

Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia said the poll body will send a letter to Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, chairperson of the Senate finance committee, to seek additional funding for the conduct of the BARMM elections in 2026.

“Susulat kami kay Senator Sherwin Gatchalian bilang pinuno ng committee ng finance ng Senado. Sa House kasi natapos na kami..Sa Senado, hindi pa kami tapos sa plenary. At least baka sakali lang mahahabol namin ang karagdagang budget patungkol dito sa Bangsamoro,” Garcia told reporters.

(We will send a letter to Senator Sherwin Gatchalian as chairperson of the Senate finance committee. The House has already passed their version of the budget but in the Senate, we have yet to be approved in the plenary. Maybe we can still request for an additional budget.)

“We will just try to convince our Congress kung ano pa ang kailangan namin ganung na-reset ang ating halalan,” he said.

(We will just try to convince our Congress to provide us a higher allocation.)

The Comelec earlier said some P1.2 billion in public funds were wasted following the Supreme Court (SC) decision postponing the October 13 parliamentary elections.

Of the amount, at least P500 million was allocated to the printing of the 2.3 million official ballots for the inaugural parliamentary polls.

On October 1, the SC ordered the postponement of the Bangsamoro elections originally slated on October 13 and declared as unconstitutional the Bangsamoro Autonomy Acts (BAAs) 58 and 77, the two districting laws by the autonomous government.

BAA 77, or the Bangsamoro Parliamentary Act of 2025, amended BAA 58 and redistricted the vacant seats in light of an SC decision excluding Sulu from the autonomous region.

The SC also directed Comelec to continue its preparations and conduct the Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections no later than March 31, 2026, and the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) to determine the parliamentary districts for the inaugural elections until October 30, 2025. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News