Filing of Certificate of Candidacy (COC) for candidates in the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) and barangay elections will be from October 6 to 13 , the Commission on Elections (Comelec) announced on Sunday.

In an interview with dzBB, Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said

October 6 is also the start of the election period and the gun ban.

Garcia said the Comelec will also extend the validity of the gun ban exemption during the national elections to the SK and barangay elections.

“For the individuals who were able to get a gun ban exemption in the national elections on May 9, 2022, we are trying to carry over its validity to the SK elections. They do not need to re-apply for a gun ban exemption,” he told dzBB.

“This would be a big help to them during the December 5, 2022 elections, which would just be a short period. Our election period is until December 12, which is also when the gun ban ends,” he added.

Garcia said the campaign period is set from November 12 to 25.

He said postponing the SK and barangay elections would double the Comelec's expenses since there would be more voters, resulting in additional ballots to print.

If the elections are postponed to May 2023, the Comelec would need P17 billion pesos and if it would be delayed to December 2023, they would need P18 billion minus P8.5 billion, Garcia said.

“Right now, we are printing 92 million ballots for the SK and barangay elections. There will be people who will receive two ballots,” Garcia said.

“If we postpone the election, we will need to print more than 100 million ballots because the voters have increased. Therefore, we need additional funds for printing ballots” he added. Jaspearl Tan/DMS