Following the suspension of the first parliamentary election in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, the Commission on Elections is recalling all poll paraphernalia that the Comelec has deployed in the BARMM.
Comelec Chairman George Garcia said the poll body would undertake reverse logistics to retrieve all poll supplies including automated counting machines (ACMs) and official ballots that were supposed to be used for the BARMM elections on Oct. 13.
‘While we wait for the new districting law, we need to retrieve all the equipment that were earlier deployed in the BARMM,’ Garcia said. ‘We spent money in shipping them. Now we have to spend money again to have them returned.’
Garcia said it is important to take back all deployed election supplies and paraphernalia as there would be changes in the system including allocations.
‘The ACMs must be reconfigured and tested again. Even supplies such as indelible ink, batteries and ballots must be returned to the Comelec,’ he said.
Earlier, the Supreme Court declared the Bangsamoro Autonomy Act 58 and BAA 77 as unconstitutional, effectively postponing the BARMM elections from October to March next year.
Meanwhile, the Comelec said it would start this month the printing of ballots for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections scheduled in November 2026.
Garcia said the early ballot printing for the barangay and SK elections would prevent conflict in the schedule once the National Printing Office needs to print ballots for the BARMM elections.