The budget would be smaller in elective posts for municipalities, he said.
He said with COVID-19 restrictions limiting face-to-face campaigning, local politicians would resort to vote buying in the 2022 polls.
The Commission on Elections considers Lanao del Sur which has 556,791 registered voters as of 2019, “an election hot spot” in previous elections.
Confict Alert, an international conflict monitoring NGO, said its 2019 report that vote buying always fueled election violence.
In the 2019 senatorial and local elections, Conflict Alert reported vote buying ranging from 300 to 3,000 pesos in Marawi City and different municipalities in Lanao del Sur.
Aside from vote buying, the remnants of Dawlah Islamiyah Maute group could pose a major threat in the 2022 elections in the province.
Brig. Gen. Jose Marie Cuerpo, commanding general of the Army 103rd Infantry Brigade said they received reports that the Maute group would sell their services to politicians in the coming elections.
“This is a strong possibility since the Maute group no longer has the international support that had given them firearms and money,” Cuerpo said.
“Supporting local politicians in exchange for money and guns is the next step for them,” he added.
Cuerpo said the Maute group had previous experience of supporting local politicians before they attacked Marawi in 2017.
The remnants of the Dawlah Islamiyah Maute group number around 20 to 30 fighters and are being led by Faharudin Hadji Satar alias Abu Zacaria.
