Stakeholder Exchange starts at 1:22:08

Election civil society groups in the Philippines commended the openness of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to collaborate with various groups in addressing electoral issues in the country, during a stakeholder exchange hosted by the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) on 16 May 2025.

ANFREL members the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL), Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) and the Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) expressed appreciation towards the innovations of COMELEC in addressing pressing electoral issues through various task forces, stakeholder meetings and legal remedies to the shortcomings of antiquated electoral laws.

Persistent Electoral Issues

Despite these efforts, however, these groups continued to monitor and receive reports related to vote buying and abuse of state resources.

LENTE executive director Atty. Ona Caritos said they wish COMELEC would continue to implement the Task Force Kontra Bigay which works to counter issues of vote buying and abuse of state resources during elections and that the interagency task force would be actived sooner for the 2028 elections.

Caritos said COMELEC issued hundreds of show-cause orders to supposed election law violators which was a welcome development but that they will continue to monitor what would happen to these orders.

NAMFREL membership committee chair Cora Ignacio noted the lack of competitiveness and options in the elections with the persistence of political dynasties and weak political party system. She also took note of the abuse of government assistance programs towards electoral advantage.

Election Day Concerns

On Election Day, NAMFREL, PPCRV, and LENTE also noted improvements as well as issues that should be addressed.

For one, PPCRV executive director Jude Liao said they welcomed the implementation of early voting hours for vulnerable sectors but added that that also meant longer working hours for polling officers. They, however, flagged the delays in the access to the elections results transmission that were relayed to the COMELEC and addressed immediately.

LENTE noted that in some voting centers, the support staff made it mandatory for members of the vulnerable sectors to vote in priority polling places (PPPs) when they were in fact optional. It could’ve prevented long queues in PPPs on Election Day.

PPCRV and LENTE both noted the presence of unauthorized persons in polling centers,  instances of assitors voting on behalf of voters they are assisting and illegal assitors.

Ignacio said the voting center managers should be held accountable for instances of inefficient management of queues on Election Day.

Caritos said the issues monitored during Election Day related to the voting process including the efficacy of the markers, the quality of the paper ballots and queue management could’ve been avoided if the mock election conditions were likened to Election Day conditions.

In terms of addressing Election Day disinformation, the good communication strategy of COMELEC helped in immediately debunking false claims and narratives spreading.

Observer accreditation, engaging in elections

Liao said the accreditation is important for PPCRV so that their volunteers are allowed entry into the polling centers and receive pre-transmission election returns which they use to perform verification as a mechanism to check the integrity of the electronic voting system.

Caritos clarified that even without accreditation for LENTE they had access to the polling centers and were able to observe the voting process outside the clustered precincts. She said the legal framework does not limit groups who do not have accreditation.

Pursuing reforms

Ignacio said there was a time when groups doubt whether or not COMELEC actually reads and considers their reports and recommendations but she is hopeful that the current officials of COMELEC would carefully consider and follow through on the recommendations of civil society groups to ensure electoral integrity.

Liao, meanwhile, said they have been working with COMELEC on several reforms. He cited an example with the labeling of printed election returns so that they could be easily identified for distribution. They will, however, follow up on the implementation based on their experience in the 2025 elections as they received pre-transmission election returns that were not intended for them despite the returns having proper labels. They will also release a set of recommendations for the implementation of the internet voting system which was used for most overseas voting.

For their part, Caritos said following through on their recommendations is a way for them to honor the hard work of their volunteers. LENTE has worked on a number of electoral reforms and will continue to pursue reforms.

The stakeholder exchange was part of the ANFREL press briefing for the release of the interim report of the ANFREL international election observation mission to the 2025 Philippine national and local elections.