MANILA, Philippines — Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chair George Garcia on Tuesday lamented the P9.12-billion cut from its proposed budget to the 2027 National Expenditure Program (NEP), noting that this may “compromise” the 2028 national elections.
At the House Committee on Appropriations’ budget hearing for Comelec, Garcia said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) redacted a total of P15.2 billion from the commission’s proposed budget for the 2027 NEP.
He emphasized that P9.12 billion of this reduction is supposedly allocated for the commission’s preparatory national and local elections (PNLE) in 2028.
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“Sana naman po mapakinggan kami ng kagalang-galang na House of Representatives at ng Senate later: ma-restore lang po yung P9.12 billion, because, definitely, the conduct of our election will be affected by the reduction,” Garcia told lawmakers during his budget presentation.
(I hope the honorable House of Representatives and the Senate will listen to us later: just restore the P9.12 billion, because, definitely, the conduct of our election will be affected by the reduction.)
“Kung hindi po talaga, the preparation will be in peril. Yan po ang effect,” he emphasized.
(If not, the preparation will be in peril. That is the effect.)
Akbayan Rep. Percival Cendeña, during his interpellation, asked the Comelec chair to further discuss what will happen in the 2028 elections if the P9.12 billion budget cut will not be restored.
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Responding to this, Garcia said the electoral machine will be insufficient and that Comelec can no longer print ballots immediately.
He also pointed out that the commission will not have its own space to put its equipment needed for the elections.
“What we are saying is we wanted to prevent that the election of 2028 be compromised simply because of the insufficient budget that will be given to us. So, yun po, the election might be compromised in 2028,” the Comelec chair said.
Garcia said that should the redacted budget not be restored, the Comelec “will do anything” to remedy the situation, just like what they did in the last Dasmariñas special elections, where they used old indelible inks and other old documents.
“Pwede naman po naming gawin, but not in a presidential and vice presidential election,” Garcia said.
(We can do it, but not in a presidential and vice presidential election.)
“Okay pa po ang special election, Mr. Chair, but not in a presidential, vice presidential with 12 senators and with 65 or 66 members of the House of Representatives coming from the party-list. So yan po ang senaryo natin by 2028,” he added.
(The special election is still okay, Mr. Chair, but not in a presidential or vice presidential context with 12 senators and with 65 or 66 members of the House of Representatives coming from the party-list. So that’s our scenario by 2028.)
Cendeña then noted that the Comelec’s budget reduction will be “a recipe for disaster.”
“We’re looking at not just a failure of elections but a failure of this very important democratic exercise,” the congressman said.
When asked if the DBM detailed the reason behind the “huge” amount of budget cut in the 2027 NEP, the year before the 2028 elections, Garcia said, “Wala pong explanation sa amin kung bakit natanggal yung P9 billion.”
(We have no explanation as to why the P9 billion was removed.)
According to Garcia, representatives from the DBM only told them to make reductions from their proposed P52.6 billion budget as a form of “compromise.”
As a compliance to the DBM’s request, Garcia said they reduced P5 billion, which would supposedly allocate its voter verification feature, blockchain technology, and the renovation of its main building in Intramuros, Manila.
“They accepted what we reduced. Unfortunately, when the NEP was released, it was suddenly reduced by P15 billion,” said Garcia.
The Inquirer reached out to the DBM regarding this matter but has yet to respond as of this writing. /mr
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