The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) closed 2025 on a positive note, reporting an orderly and credible voting process with high turnout as it gears up for two elections in 2026.
National and local elections held on May 12 saw participation from over 82% of registered voters, or nearly 60 million Filipinos. Twelve senators were elected, alongside party-list representatives, district lawmakers, governors, mayors, and other local officials.
COMELEC credited its success to massive voter education and transparent procurement, with livestreamed events.
“For the first time in over a year, we immediately started our voter education process and for our procurement, we have livestreaming, sharing with the people all the events leading up to the procurement of election materials,” spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco said.
An OCTA Research survey found 83% of Filipinos believed the May election was credible, safe and accurate, while 86% said voting was quick and efficient.
The poll body also cleansed the voters’ list, removing more than 500,000 double or multiple registrants using biometrics.
“We cleaned it all up using pictures, signatures and fingerprints – what we call biometrics. The COMELEC removed more than 500,000 who were either double or multiple registrants… the important thing is that we removed them,” Laudiangco said.
Since October 20, voter registration has been ongoing nationwide, with 1,020,694 applications processed as of December 21.