THE EXECUTIVE’s multibillion budget cut to the Commission on Election’s (Comelec) proposed spending plan next year would prevent the poll body from preparing two years ahead of the 2028 presidential polls, its chairman said on Monday.
Comelec was allotted P11.52 billion under the proposed 2026 national budget, 36.2% short of the P18.06 billion originally sought, Chairman George Erwin M. Garcia told lawmakers.
“We’re hoping to restore the originally proposed budget so we can begin preparations two years ahead of the 2028 elections,” he said at a House of Representatives Appropriations committee briefing in Filipino. “The 2028 polls are crucial.”
The Philippines holds national elections on a three-year cycle, but the presidential post is contested every six years.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. is constitutionally limited to a single six-year term, setting the stage for a high-stakes presidential election in 2028 that is widely expected to pit his chosen successor against Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio.
“We’re hoping that we can at least surpass the 2025 elections in terms of speed, credibility and reliability,” said Mr. Garcia.
The May 2025 midterm poll was marked by widespread technical issues involving newly deployed automated counting machines, with watchdog groups and voters raising concerns over discrepancies between vote receipts and shaded ballot choices.
“We wanted 2026 to be the research and development year,” Mr. Garcia said. “We should be finalizing the terms of references and signing of contracts, even the testing of systems that year.”
“That way, by 2027, all issues can be resolved already,” he added.
Meanwhile, Mr. Garcia revealed that 31 contractors were suspected of contributing to the campaign fund of political candidates during the 2022 elections.
Election officials are reviewing 2022 campaign donations to identify contractors who may have violated election laws, as the five-year deadline for filing charges approaches, he said in the same briefing.
“We have to verify with DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) if these 31 contractors have an existing contract at the time of the aspirants’ filing of candidacy, because there is a possibility that they are contractors but they did not have government contracts,” he said in Filipino. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio
