Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman George Garcia on Thursday appealed to the Senate to restore the P5.7 billion budget cut to make it easier for them to prepare for the 2025 May midterm polls and the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections.

“As far as the Comelec is concerned, we were reduced by at least P17.4 billion. Because of that again, we honestly believe if they will not restore the more or less P5.7 billion we will find it hard to prepare for the national local elections of 2025,” Garcia said during the Senate Committee on Finance’s deliberation of the agency’s 2024 budget.

He said out of the P27 billion that was allocated to the Comelec for next year, only P22.938 million was for preparing for the 2025 local elections, and around P4.6 would remain for their personnel services and capital outlay.

Garcia said the slashed funds included the overtime pay of their personnel, transport of the machines, and the pilot testing of the machines nationwide.

He also said that the decreased budget had removed their allocation for Information Technology (IT) equipment, field offices, and internet. Jaspearl Tan/DMS