THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) said yesterday that the printing of official ballots for the May 2025 national and local polls is expected to be completed by this Friday night or Saturday morning.
“We just need to print the final three million. We may be able to finish it by Friday night or Saturday morning, that is earlier than our previous announcements,” said Comelec Chairman George Garcia in an interview.
As this developed, newly-appointed Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua said that with 32 of its areas currently in the “red category,” they will not oppose the possibility of some of them being placed under direct Comelec supervision.
In a press briefing after meeting Garcia, Macacua said they are open to some areas being placed under “Comelec control” for the May 12 polls.
Based on the initial list released by the Comelec in January 2025, there are a total of 38 areas under the “red category,” with 32 located in the BARMM.
“It is our priority to ensure the peaceful and orderly conduct of the elections. We are now preparing for the ways we can prevent any untoward situations,” said Macacua.
For the national and local elections in May, the poll body started the ballot printing at the National Printing Office (NPO) on January 6
On January 14, it suspended printing after the Supreme Court (SC) issued several temporary restraining orders (TROs) against the Comelec and its decisions to disqualify or declare as nuisance several aspirants.
On January 27, the Comelec ordered the restart of the ballot printing for the midterm elections.
The NPO and the Comelec’s service provider, Miru Systems, was set to print around 69 million official ballots.
The poll chief reiterated that a lot of work is needed to complete the verification of the printed ballots but said they remain on track and will complete verification by April.
