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Mayen Jaymalin - The Philippine Star
May 15, 2025 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Tuesday encouraged voters who observed discrepancies during the recent midterm elections, such as mismatches between ballots and automated counting machine receipts, pre-shaded ballots or other irregularities, to pursue proper legal channels by filing formal complaints.
“Not belittling your complaints, but Comelec just wants to put it in the legal process,” Comelec spokesman John Rex Laudiangco said in Filipino.
Such allegations should be supported by a notarized affidavit, which would serve as the foundation for filing an electoral protest, he added.
Laudiangco reminded the public that suspected irregularities should have been reported immediately to poll watchers, electoral board teachers or the candidates’ representatives for appropriate action.
Comelec Chairman George Garcia, meanwhile, reaffirmed the credibility of the electoral process. He stated that the transmission and canvassing of votes proceeded without delay or discrepancy.
But to further ensure transparency, he highlighted the Random Manual Audit as an ongoing verification measure to detect any inconsistencies between the vote count and the actual ballots.
Cybersecurity
The Comelec revealed yesterday that its digital infrastructure faced millions of hacking attempts even after election day.
Laudiangco said the agency’s website and Precinct Finder portal were targeted by deliberate denial-of-service attacks intended to overwhelm the system and hinder access for legitimate users.
The attacks, which persisted into the early hours of Wednesday morning, were aimed at disrupting the Comelec’s web services, including the election results platform.
Despite these efforts, Laudiangco confirmed that all hacking attempts were successfully repelled and that the systems remained secure.
Observers ‘shocked’
The European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) expressed surprise and shock at the Comelec’s decision to disregard an Administrative Agreement granting election observers unrestricted access to polling stations during the May 12 midterm elections.
Marta Temido, the chief observer and a member of the European Parliament, shared these sentiments as she presented the EU EOM’s Preliminary Statement on its findings regarding the elections.
Temido said the Comelec informed the EU EOM just four days before the election that election observers would not be allowed into polling precincts.
“The commitment previously signed by the European Union, the Philippine authorities and the Comelec was not respected,” Temido said during a press conference.
Garcia said the law did not allow foreign observers to enter the venues – mostly classrooms in public schools – where ballots were filled out and cast.
Following a formal invitation from the Philippines to observe the 2025 national midterm elections, the EU deployed an EOM for the first time, with the mandate to monitor all aspects of the electoral process.
According to Temido, the EU and Philippine authorities had previously signed an Administrative Arrangement ensuring the mission’s members had “freedom of access, at any time, to all polling stations and counting/tabulation centers,” while abiding by the Comelec’s International Election Observer Accreditation Guidelines and the EU EOM Code of Conduct.
“Disregarding prior commitments, Comelec’s refusal to grant EU observers access to voting precincts undermined the EU EOM’s ability to observe voting procedures,” Temido said.
“As a result, the EU EOM could no longer ensure meaningful observation of the voting phase. Consequently, the mission could not deploy its full team of observers as initially planned,” she added.
Temido clarified that agreements between election observation missions and host countries typically guarantee unimpeded access to all stages of the electoral process.
“Had Comelec told us up front that access to polling precincts would not be granted, we wouldn’t have deployed the mission at all,” she said. “We were shocked when this decision was communicated to us just four days before the elections.”
The Comelec’s proposed solution, according to Temido, was for observers to remain outside the precincts and view the process through a window, a method incompatible with the EU’s observation methodology.
“To look through a window is not to observe,” she said.
While some EU observers were able to observe voting in certain precincts, the mission could not assess the voting process comprehensively.
After polls closed, the EU EOM deployed 82 teams to 92 polling precincts nationwide, though access to eight of them was denied.
Echoing Temido’s statements, Vladimir Prebili?, head of the Delegation of the European Parliament, expressed regret that the Comelec had failed to honor the agreement.
“Not only was agreed access denied, but the police were also instructed by Comelec to prevent European observers from entering, making it impossible for us to carry out our duties,” he said.
