Lawmakers want Comelec budget restored
MANILA, Philippines — Congressmen want to restore the proposed P49.7-billion 2025 budget of the Commission on Elections, which the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) slashed by P14.2 billion.
The Comelec’s net budget of P35.5 billion for 2025 is insufficient, as three elections will be held starting May, according to Reps. Romeo Acop, Zia Alonto Adiong and other legislators.
Three polls are set for 2025: the midterm elections, the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) and the first Bangsamoro parliamentary elections.
The DBM slashed the budget for the midterm polls and BSKE by P3 billion and P8.2 billion, respectively.
Garcia earlier said that public school teachers serving on election day would receive an additional P2,000 honorarium each, but lamented that it will no longer materialize due to the budget cut.
The House appropriations panel on Tuesday held a budget hearing on the Comelec’s 2025 budget.
Meanwhile, aspiring voters in the May 2025 midterm elections have reached nearly six million, with only three weeks left before the end of voter registration, the Comelec said. – Mayen Jaymalin
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