Registered voters in Negros Occidental for the upcoming Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) in December this year already reached nearly two million based on the official report released by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
Of the figure, Bacolod City has the highest number of voters, at 330,621.
The number accounts for the registered voters from 899 clustered and 2,186 established precincts in the city’s 61 barangays.
Kabankalan City has the second largest number of voters, at 107, 763, from 621 established and 297 clustered precincts in 32 barangays.
It is followed by Bago City with 102, 914 voters from 24 barangays who are listed in 607 established and 290 clustered precincts.
The mountainous municipality of Candoni, on the other hand, has fewer registered voters at 16,964 from nine barangays who are registered at 127 established and 50 clustered precincts.
Provincial Comelec Supervisor Ian Lee Ananoria said that the preparation continues despite the uncertainty whether the BSKE will push through or not in December this year.
In fact, he said, election officers in various towns and cities are also planning out as early as now.
“Negros Occidental likewise has enough ballot boxes to be used for the elections,” Ananoria said, adding that they are already conducting an inventory to replace the dilapidated ones.
In a related development, the House of Representatives approved on third and final reading on Tuesday, September 20, 2022, a measure seeking the postponement of the BSKE.
With 264 affirmative, six negative and three abstention votes, the House approved House Bill (HB) 4637, or the act postponing the synchronized barangay and SK elections from December 5, 2022 to December 4, 2023.
Subsequent barangay and SK polls shall be held on the first Monday of December 2026 and every three years thereafter.
“Today’s approval of the measure affirms the House’s resolve to approve HB No. 4673 by October 1, 2022 and have it signed by President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. before the scheduled December 5, 2022 barangay and SK elections,” the House of Representative said.
Under the bill, incumbent officials will have an extended term pending the conduct of the election
Officials who will be elected in the polls will assume office on January 1, 2024.
The measure is a consolidation of 38 bills filed at the lower chamber.
Lawmakers argued that the P8-billion budget allocated for the holding of the election can instead be used for the country’s prevailing pandemic response.
Comelec Commissioner George Garcia earlier warned that moving the election to a later date would mean additional costs of around P5 billion. (with reports from SunStar Philippines)