COMELEC to Use 2016 Budget for 2017 Elections

The Commission on Elections will use the budget originally allocated for the 2016 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections for 2017. House Bill 3504, which postpones the elections to October 2017, allows the Commission to continue using the appropriations given by the government for the elections.

Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista previously said that the funds intended for the 2016 elections are “largely intact” when he presented the proposed budget for 2017 amounting to P3.3 billion to members of the House Committee on Appropriations.

The Commission has spent approximately P200 million out of the P6 billion allocation before stopping their preparations for the supposed October 2016 elections.

“We still have enough funds for the 2017 elections from our continuing appropriations. We can still use our 2016 budget,” Comelec Spokesperson James Jimenez said.

Congress and the Senate passed on final reading their respective versions of the bill on the postponement of the elections on Tuesday, September 13.

More than 57 million voters are expected for next year’s elections when the registration is continued, with a potential addition of 2 million voters for the SK elections and 3 million for the Barangay elections. An additional 3, 095,187 registered for the October 31st elections.  (COMELEC)