The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has suspended the filing of certificates of candidacy (COCs) and other preparations for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections.
Comelec Chairman George Garcia said the poll body has ordered all election officials nationwide to terminate preparations for the barangay and SK elections as the law resetting the electoral exercises to Nov. 2 next year has become effective.
‘Up to now, no temporary restraining order has been issued by the Supreme Court regarding the resetting of the barangay and SK elections,’ Garcia said during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay yesterday. ‘In the meantime, the law stopping the conduct of the elections on Dec. 1 has become effective and there is no point to proceed with the filing of COCs.’
The filing of COCs for the barangay and SK elections was supposed to start yesterday.
The Comelec, Garcia said, would come up with a new calendar of activities for the holding of the electoral exercises next year. He said the poll body waited until yesterday for the high tribunal’s action on a petition questioning the law that reset the elections.
He said procurement of necessary election materials for the barangay and SK elections would proceed. Only the filing of COCs, observance of election and campaign periods have been terminated.
The Comelec has spent P2 billion of the P11.5-billion budget allocated for the barangay and SK elections, Garcia said, noting that Congress has allotted an additional P7.46 million to the remaining P9.5-billion budget to be used for the election next year.