ELECTIONS chairman George Garcia yesterday said the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has not received any report on “major concerns” related to the conduct of the overseas absentee voting, which kicked off on Sunday.
The overseas absentee voting will run until May 12.
Overseas voters can only vote for senators and party-list groups.
Garcia said all 93 online and manual overseas voting systems have “successfully opened” for Filipinos based in various parts of the world.
He said the 77 Online Voting and Counting System (OVCS) posts and 16 automated counting machine (ACM) posts for manual voting will be open until 7 p.m. of May 12, or the official closing time of all Philippine voting centers in and outside of the country.
Garcia said the Philippine Consulate General in Honolulu, Hawaii was the last to open at around 2 a.m. Philippine Standard Time (PST) due to the time difference.
“Successfully opened na po ang lahat ng 77 OVCS Posts (All 77 OVCS posts have successfully opened). Earlier today, all 16 ACM posts have also successfully conducted open voting procedures. With that, all 93 posts have opened for voting for their respective jurisdictions for the 2025 national elections overseas,” he told reporters in a Viber message.
In a chance interview, Garcia said he cannot give the media an update of how many overseas voters have cast their votes or who have cast their votes since there is a Comelec ruling which prohibits it.
Garcia reminded Filipinos overseas that only those who pre-enrolled can cast their votes via the internet.
He said those who enrolled prior to the opening of the overseas voting were given QR codes and a one-time password when they enlisted to as a security measure.
He said that after an individual has picked his/her selections, they will be furnished a copy of the “ballot base” on their gadget’s screen and would be asked if they want to cast the votes.
“Pag na-cast po nila ay automatic mawawala yung pinaka-balota na nakita nila yung boto nila. At pagkatapos, yung sinasabi nila ay puwede pang ma-verify yung QR code. Kapag pinindot kasi nila yung QR code, ang lalabas doon ay hindi na yung pangalan ng mga kandidato na kanilang binoto. Lalabas diyan ay machine-readable codes ng lahat ng kandidato at nandoon yung kandidato na kanilang binoto (Once they have cast their votes, the ‘ballot’ will automatically disappear. When they press the QR code icon to verify their votes, they will not see the names of the candidates they voted for. What will appear now are machine-readable codes of the candidates. They do not have to worry because the codes bear the names of their chosen candidates),” Garcia said.
He said the QR codes are “encrypted” and cannot be read by a QR scanner which has not been given access by the Comelec.
Garcia said the poll body has approved a resolution granting access to the National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) and the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) so they can do random verification of votes cast in any area they wish. He said the system is called the Election Verifier System (EVS).
“Para sila mismo ang mag-verify kung tama ba yung binibilang ng mga makina (So they can verify themselves if the votes counted by the machines tally),” he said.
He said the names of selected candidates are intentionally not flashed since doing so can be an instrument for vote buying.
Garcia said copies of the ballots can be printed only after the May 12 elections.
“Mapi-print po yan sa post mismo at doon sa post mave-verify nila kung tama lahat yung mismong na cast doon. In fact, meron din tayong random manual audit at sa random audit puwede po makumpara yung mismong vote as against yung sa print (The ballots can be printed from the posts and they can verify the names of their chosen candidates. In fact, we also have a random manual audit where the names of the voted candidates can be compared against the printed copies),” he added.
‘VOTE WISELY
AND WITH INTEGRITY’
Malacañang yesterday urged overseas Filipino voters to exercise their rights to suffrage and consider the candidates based on what they could do for the country instead of relying on “bulong” (whisper) or those endorsed by others or even those who resort to vote buying.
Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said Filipino voters abroad should fulfill their patriotic duty by voting wisely and with integrity.
“Dito po nila maipapakita ang kanilang boses. Ang ating mensahe mula po sa Palasyo ay gampanan ninyo po ang inyong tungkulin bilang isang Pilipino. Bumoto po kayo nang nararapat. Bumoto po mula sa puso (You can share your voice here. The Palace’s message [to overseas voters] is for them to fulfil their duties as a Filipino. Vote for who is right. Vote from your heart),” she said.
“Huwag pong bumoto dahil lamang sa bulong o dahil kayo ay nabayaran kundi iboto ninyo po ang mga taong nararapat, iyong maaasahan po natin, mga lider na hindi ibebenta ang bansa kahit sa anumang paraan at mga lider na Makabayan (Do not vote based on whispers or because you were paid, but vote for the right persons, for leaders who do not sell the country in whatever process, and leaders who are patriotic),” she added.
LOCAL ABSENTEE VOTING
Garcia also said the poll body has approved the application of 57,689 out of 72,236 government officials and employees and members of the media to cast their votes ahead of the May 12 polls, or the local absentee voting.
He said 1,005 members of the media, composed of 524 men and 481 women, have been allowed for the local absentee voting; while 29,030 from the armed forces (26,626 men and 2,404 women); and 23,448 from the PNP (18,072 men and 5.376 women) were also approved.
Garcia said 4,206 government employees and officials, consisting of 2,149 men and 2,057 women, have also been approved for the local absentee voting.
SHOW CAUSE ORDERS
Meanwhile, Garcia said the Comelec Task Force Kontra Bigay on Saturday issued show cause orders against a mayoralty candidate in Cabuyao, Laguna after photos “flooded” social media sites showing the candidate giving away hundreds of cellphones.
He said another show cause order was issued by the local Comelec office in Bulacan against a candidate in San Miguel town and a party-list nominee in the province of Quezon.
He said show cause orders were also issued by the Comelec against four candidates in the Bicol region and another in the “north” who were reportedly using text blast machines.
“Sa mga kababayan natin, you have to flood the social media ng mga pictures, videos and mag-a-action po kami. Wala naman po problema sa pagpapaliwanag lang eh (I call on the people to flood social media sites of pictures and videos [of alleged irregularities during the campaign]. They do not have to worry since we are just going to make them explain the pictures and videos),” he said.
“We will definitely act on each and every (alleged irregularity), even if it means initially issuing show cause orders,” he also said.
Garcia, however, said the Comelec cannot outrightly disqualify a candidate due to the allegations against him or her as the complaints still need to undergo due process. – With Jocelyn Montemayor
