Comelec to hold 4 plebiscites

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will hold four plebiscites in the coming months or before the scheduled Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) on Dec. 5, 2022.

Comelec spokesman John Rex Laudiangco on Tuesday said that these plebiscites were scheduled between the months of August and October and include a plebiscite to ratify the division of the province of Maguindanao into two independent districts, to be known as the provinces of Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur as provided for under Republic Act 1150.

The Maguindanao plebiscite will be held on Sept. 17, 2022.

It has a budget allocation of P89,147,012.10.

The three others were the August 20 plebiscite to ratify the creation of Barangay New Canaan as a regular and distinct barangay (village) in the municipality of Alabel in Sarangani with a budget of P3,376,438.20; September 3 plebiscite to ratify the conversion of the municipality of Calaca into a component city of the province of Batangas with an allocation of P13,710,375.73; and the October 8 plebiscite to ratify the merger of Barangay District 1 with Barangay District 28 and the renaming of Barangay 29 in Ormoc City, province of Leyte, with a budget of P732,685.60.

Laudiangco clarified that the budget for the plebiscites will not be shouldered by the Comelec but by the respective local government units.

"Kindly note that the budget/funding for these plebiscites is sourced from the local government units involved and merely transferred/transmitted to Comelec, as provided in their respective enabling laws," he said.

Laudiangco said preparations for the BSKE polls are ongoing despite uncertainties arising from proposals in Congress to postpone them.

Director Martin Niedo of Comelec's Finance Services Department said the budget for the 2022 BSKE is P8.4 billion, consisting of allotments and corresponding cash allocations.

Niedo added that even if the BSKE would be postponed, any procurement of goods related to the elections would not go to waste as the same may be utilized on the new date of the same elections.

"This is similar to what the commission had authorized for the May 14, 2018 BSKE wherein we used ballots and accountable forms, which were all dated Oct. 23, 2017," he said.

"None of the procured goods, including indelible inks, pens and ballots, and others were wasted and all were accordingly put to their intended use," Niedo added.

https://www.manilatimes.net/2022/08/10/news/national/comelec-to-hold-4-plebiscites/1854074