Comelec to focus on voter registration, adjust calendar of events amid BSKE postponement

Given the postponement of the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE), the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said on Wednesday, Oct. 12, that it will continue the voters’ registration in order to ensure the larger participation of the citizenry.

In a statement, Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said that they have been notified that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. has signed into law Republic Act 11935, entitled “An Act Postponing the December 2022 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections, Amending For The Purpose Republic Act No. 9164, As Amended, Appropriating Funds Therefor, And For Other Purposes.”

With this law, he said that the legislative and the executive departments have seen fit to postpone the BSKE to October of 2023.

“As I have said before, the COMELEC shall comply with the law. I have conveyed the COMELEC position with regard to postponement of the BSKE to the legislature and the President and I trust that such position was duly noted and considered,” Garcia added.

He also mentioned that the poll body will release an announcement regarding an adjustment of the calendar of activities at the soonest possible time. They will also revisit Comelec’s existing and planned procurement contracts related to the BSKE and act accordingly with the best interest of all parties in mind.

According to Garcia, this postponement will also give the commission an opportunity to further institute education and information programs for the benefit of the electorate and prospective BSKE candidates.

“For now, we shall continue with our preparations for the BSKE. We hope that hopefuls for barangay and SK positions and the voting public would also take this time to prepare and reflect on their rights and duties which they will exercise through their ballots and eventual offices,” he added.