The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Friday started imposing a ban on public works and social services as part of the preparations for the 2 November Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE).

Comelec chairman George Erwin Garcia said during a radio interview, “No projects on social services and public works can be implemented by various government agencies if they do not get the appropriate exemption from the Commission on Elections.”

The Comelec chair said the Omnibus Election Code mandates the implementation of the ban.

Garcia said the Comelec would not stop its preparations for the BSKE despite the passage in the Senate and the House of Representatives of bills proposing to extend the terms of barangay and SK officials from four to five years, which would result in the postponement of this year’s polls.

“Even if there’s a possibility that the 2 November polls will get postponed, there is still no law and, therefore, the provisions are still there that need to be implemented for the upcoming BSKE,” he said.

Even if President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signs the bills into law, the chairman expects that there will be petitioners who will ask the Supreme Court to stop the BSKE postponement.

Should the SC issue a restraining order against the postponement of the BSKE, Garcia said the election will push through.

The Comelec chief expressed hope that the decision to postpone the BSKE would be made quickly.

He reminded that the filing of the certificate of candidacy for the BSKE is set to take place from 28 September to 5 October, and the Comelec is scheduled to deploy election paraphernalia throughout the country in the first week of October.

Though the Comelec has already spent P8 billion of the allotted P19 billion for the BSKE preparations, Garcia assured that “the other equipment we bought can still be used in the reset barangay and SK elections, if it comes to that.”