Thread by @rapplerdotcom

HAPPENING TODAY: The House appropriations panel holds a hearing to tackle the President's proposed 2022 budget for Comelec. | via @newsdwight

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@newsdwight BACKGROUND: Comelec sought a P41.992-billion budget for 2022, but the Duterte gov't is only proposing P26.497 billion to Congress, which means that Comelec's request was trimmed by P15.495 billion. #BudgetWatch #PHVote #WeDecide rappler.com/nation/electio…

@newsdwight Comelec's proposed 2022 budget is more than double the budget it received in the last presidential election year, and comes amid calls for Comelec to "COVID-proof" next year's polls, where 61 million are already eligible to cast their ballots. | @newsdwight #BudgetWatch #PHVote

@newsdwight Comelec previously said the "deep cut" made by the DBM in its proposed 2022 budget will have a significant impact on its conduct of the 2022 polls. | via @newsdwight

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@newsdwight Comelec Chairman Sheriff Abas says budget requested by DBM to Congress would allow them to increase honoraria of 2022 poll workers by at least P2,000. | via @newsdwight

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@newsdwight The proposed honoraria increase by Deped, which was approved by the Comelec in June, was P3,000 across the board. "Sa ngayon, tali lang din kami sa anumang binigay sa amin ng DBM," Abas tells House lawmakers. | via @newsdwight

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@newsdwight Comelec plans to reduce the number of voters assigned per precinct to 800, but Rep. France Castro is worried that is still a high number.

Reducing the number of voters assigned per precinct is dependent on how many VCMs the Comelec would use in 2022. |@newsdwight

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@newsdwight Comelec currently has some 97,000 VCMs. In order for the poll body to achieve the target of 800 voters per precinct, it needs 10,000 more VCMs. Comelec declared a failure of bidding for the lease of 10,000 VCMs on Thursday. | via @newsdwight

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@newsdwight RELATED STORY: rappler.com/nation/electio…

https://twitter.com/rapplerdotcom/status/1436165328195637256

@newsdwight Comelec Executive Director Bartolome Sinocruz says poll body eyes 6 am to 6 pm voting hours on election day, with provision to extend to accommodate voters who are already in line. | via @newsdwight

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@newsdwight Comelec Dir. Lea Alarcon: If we will increase the clustered precincts, we will need a... total of P23.9 billion for all machines needed. | via @newsdwight

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@newsdwight Alarcon: For the two-day voting, the total budget needed is P19.7 billion. | via @newsdwight

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@newsdwight Comelec Dir. Sonia Bea Wee-Lozada says poll body targeting 1.65 million overseas voters in 2022 polls. Registered overseas voters as of July were 1.495 million. | via @newsdwight

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@newsdwight Registered voters for the 2019 polls were 1.8 million. Why the dip? Lozada says voter data of some 576,000 voters were deactivated for the 2022 polls. She also notes the massive repatriation of Filipinos since 2020 due to the pandemic. | via @newsdwight

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