‘No way for no-el, no more time for Cha-cha’

MANILA, Philippines - Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. believes time has run out for Charter change (Cha-cha), which is needed to stop the 2016 elections.

“No way. No way that there can be no-el,” he said in an interview after a hearing at the Senate yesterday during which he defended the Comelec’s P16.9-billion budget for 2015.

“Congress cannot suspend the elections. That’s unconstitutional… The only way to stop the elections is to amend the Constitution. I don’t think there is time to amend the Constitution,” he added.

He also noted that the proposed P7-billion budget for Cha-cha was slashed from the agency’s original request of P36 billion.

He said the executive department did not also include funds for the plebiscite on the Bangsamoro Basic Law, which will be provided under the proposed law.

During the hearing, Brillantes stressed the need to speed up the bidding process for the automation of the elections.

The budget department’s original request was cut to almost half, but Brillantes expressed confidence that the agency could still ensure peaceful and orderly elections in 2016.

“We are confident in the sense that we have savings,” he said.

He said they could tap their P2.9-billion savings for the elections instead of using it for the construction of a new Comelec building.

“We have to give priority to the elections. The building is not a priority, so if we need to use the P2.9 billion for the elections, that’s not a problem,” he said.