MANILA — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday said it would be "very difficult" to kick off the planned construction of its new headquarters next year with a P500-million allocation for the project.

During the budget presentation of the poll body before the Senate subcommittee on finance, Sen. Imee Marcos asked the Comelec on how it planned to roll out the project next year.

"What can you begin with P500 million?," Marcos said.

According to Comelec chairman George Erwin Garcia, the poll body cannot do much with such amount.

"To be very honest and frank, there will be no [or] not much many contractors that may participate in the bidding if it will only be P500 million," he said.

"[It will be] very difficult to begin," he added.

The Comelec is seeking at least P1.5 billion to kick off the construction next year, but the Department of Budget and Management only allocated a third of this amount for the project.

The estimated cost of the planned building in Pasay City is at P9.337 billion. It is expected to save the poll body around P20 billion for the next 50 years.

According to Garcia, the Comelec spends around P159 million a year for the lease of Palacio del Gobernador building in Intramuros, Manila, which serves as its main office, and other warehouses.

However, senators did not commit to increase the allocation for the project.

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