This, after the barangay and SK polls has been reset to October 30, 2023.
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. approved the BSKE postponement from December 2022 to October 30, 2023.
On Monday, Marcos signed into law Republic Act 11935 postponing to the last Monday of October 2023 the polls that were originally scheduled for December 5 this year. Under the law, the three-year term of office of barangay and SK officials elected on October 30, 2023 shall commence at noon of November 30, 2023.
Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco said Wednesday night that the Commission en banc will meet, deliberate and thereafter release the revised calendar of activities for the BSKE.
“In line with this, the Commission en banc will meet and deliberate to revise the Calendar of Activities for the October 30, 2023 BSKE, postponing and rescheduling to a later date in 2023 the following pertinent activities: Election Period, Period for the Gun Ban and Other Prohibited Acts (November 6 to December 20, 2022), and the Period of Filing of Certificates of Candidacy (October 22 to 29, 2022),” he said.
“Given these developments, the Comelec intends to resume the Continuing System of Voter Registration in the last week of November or first week of December 2022 after the requisite preparatory activities and training therefor,” Laudiangco added.
As to the printing of ballots which started early this month at the National Printing Office, Laudiangco said it will be temporarily suspended to reconfigure the ballot face templates to reflect the October 30, 2023 date of the BSKE in the next batch of official ballots and assured that all already printed ballots will not go to waste.
“The public can be rest assured that the election supplies and paraphernalia will not be put to waste. These include all the printed official ballots and other accountable and non-accountable forms procured through competitive public bidding and other procurement modalities under R.A No. 9184, these will be stored in the warehouses of the Commission under tight security, safekept in time for use on the October 30, 2023 BSKE, as pledged by Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia,” he said.