The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is asking Congress for as much as P9 billion in additional funding to ensure the smooth conduct of the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections in November 2026.
Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia told lawmakers during a budget hearing on Monday that the request will cover two major items: the honoraria of teachers who will serve in the polls and the costs of accommodating millions of newly registered voters.
Garcia explained that while the upcoming elections already have a P10 billion continuing appropriation, it does not include the P2,000 increase in honoraria for teachers and poll workers that was granted during the 2025 midterm elections.
“We will submit to the committee the exact computation […] pag po may honoraria yung teachers na dagdag aabutin po ng mga P9 billion, yun po yung i-add sa ating continuing appropriation,” Garcia said.
Even without the additional honoraria, Garcia noted, the Comelec would still require around P6 billion to prepare for the projected influx of four million new voters.
The 2026 polls were reset to November 2, 2026, after President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. signed Republic Act No. 12232, postponing the elections originally scheduled for December 2025. The law also extended the term of barangay and SK officials from three to four years, aligning future elections to a regular four-year cycle.
