Not a single step in the electoral process will be missed by the eye of the public, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner George Erwin Garcia said on Monday, April 25.

"We will always ensure under the leadership of our Chairman, complete transparency and accountability in this election," Garcia said during a signing of a peace covenant in Negros Oriental. "We will ensure the public, the electorate, that there will not be a single part of the process of the election na hindi makikita o hindi malalaman ng ating publiko," he added.
He said that the poll body will guarantee it not only at the national level but also at the local level.
According to Garcia, their instruction to their field personnel and their main office personnel is to always ensure transparency and accountability without compromising the security of the ballots, as well as the counting machines and the SD cards.
Garcia shared that in his two-decade practice during the elections since 2010, it has been his advocacy as to find out whether the machines are counting properly or not.
He said that he is a "living witness" since 2010, that there was not a single ballot box that they opened with him being either the lawyer of the protestant or the protestee that the result came out different between the count of the machine and the manual count.
Garcia mentioned that he can "honestly" say that the Vote Counting Machines (VCMs) are just mere counting machines and what comes out in the canvassing in municipality and city is just a consolidation of it. What should be focused on, according to him, is the prevention of irregularities such as vote buying.
The Comelec has been conducting peace covenant signings the past few weeks as a means to instill discipline and peace and show that the Comelec will be in full control of the situation.