Comelec eyes P50-B budget for 2028 nat'l, local polls

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is seeking a budget of about P50 billion for preparations for the 2028 national and local elections (NLE), Comelec Chairman George Garcia said in an ambush interview on Tuesday.

Garcia said the amount is necessary given the growing number of voters and the commission’s plan to upgrade automated counting machines (ACMs).

“Halos po mahigit P50 billion po ‘yan. Kasi nga po ‘yung honoraria pa lang ng ating mga guro sa araw ng eleksyon, kasunod na ‘yung training at deployment," Garcia said.

(That is almost more than P50 billion. The honoraria of our teachers on election day alone already account for a large portion of it, followed by training and deployment.)

"Nagmahal na po ang mga presyo, lalo na’t nagkaroon tayo ng energy crisis,” he added.

(Prices have also gone up, especially due to the energy crisis.)

He said ACMs alone would cost nearly P20 billion, while other expenses such as transmission, overseas voting, ballot printing, and warehousing could reach about P25 billion.

For the 2027 preparations, Comelec has already submitted a P25-billion budget proposal to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), which was later reduced by P6 billion following the agency’s review.

Garcia said the P6-billion reduction led to the removal of voter verification and blockchain features.

On Tuesday, Comelec held a stakeholders’ forum and presented the draft terms of reference (TOR) for the automated election system for the 2028 NLE in Manila.

Garcia said stakeholders will be given two weeks to submit recommendations and feedback on the draft TOR. Comelec is expected to brief political parties on the draft in the third or fourth week of June before finalizing the document.

The poll body is targeting to begin procurement by July, with contract awarding expected by September.

For the estimated 125,000 ACMs, Comelec is also aiming to start procurement by August or September.

“So that makapag-award tayo ng contract sa sinumang mananalo na provider o supplier by January o February 2027 para meron silang ilang buwan na magawa yung makina,” Garcia said.

(So that we can award the contract to the winning provider or supplier by January or February 2027, giving them several months to manufacture the machines.)

Garcia said the ongoing preparations are proof that the 2028 elections will push through, despite talk of a possible no-election scenario floated in the Senate.

Qualified until convicted

When asked whether individuals facing charges would be allowed to run in the 2028 elections, Garcia reiterated that under the law, a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

“Hangga’t ang isang tao ay hindi convicted by final judgment for a crime involving moral turpitude or an offense punishable by more than one year of imprisonment ay makakatakbo,” Garcia said.

(As long as a person has not been convicted by final judgment of a crime involving moral turpitude or an offense punishable by more than one year of imprisonment, he or she may run for office.)

Garcia clarified he was not referring to any specific individual.—MCG, GMA News