The Commission on Elections (Comelec) received an increase in this year’s budget for the conduct and supervision of elections, referenda, recall votes, and plebiscites—amounting to a whopping P14 billion, which is a PHP 12 billion raise compared to the initially-proposed PHP 2 billion by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM). The sudden increase in the allocated budget faced several concerns, particularly from Independent Minority Congressman, Albay, 1st District Representative Edcel Lagman, who asserted that the aforementioned additional budget would be used for a “Charter change rampage,” as it was placed under the conduct and supervision of elections, referenda, recall votes, and plebiscites category.