As he called for a continued discussion on the country's electoral system, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said he wanted to integrate voter education into the K-12 curriculum to empower the Filipino youth and encourage them to choose the leaders of the society discerningly. Marcos said this during the first 2023 National Election Summit in Pasay City on Friday, March 10. In his speech, the President said that "several reforms in the election process must be made" to ensure accurate and unalterable results to maintain the sanctity of the polls and the people's trust. "We must act on it decisively and enforce concrete measures to turn our plans into reality," Marcos said. "Now that we use modern technologies to advance and make our election system more reliable, I am sure that we can implement positive reforms and make election result transmission faster and maintain its accuracy," he added.

In his speech at the National Election Summit in Pasay, President Marcos said that "several reforms in the election process must be made" to ensure accurate and unalterable results to maintain the sanctity of the polls and the people's trust. (RTVM Screenshot) @manilabulletin pic.twitter.com/wYxjxdpmIZ

— Argyll Cyrus Geducos (@argyllcyrus_MB) March 10, 2023

With this, the Chief Executive said voter education should be integrated into the curricula of the K-12 program up to the tertiary level to include the Filipino youth in the discussions. "In ensuring excellent results, we must continue to discuss the nitty-gritty of our processes, including recalibrating the capacity of our teachers as electoral board members and integrating voter education in the curricula of K to 12, tertiary level, and the National Service Training Program," Marcos said. "So as we engage in discussions amongst our students and the Filipino youth, we likewise promote and encourage them to form and cast an informed vote, as well as discerningly choose the leaders of our society," he added. The National Election Summit serves as a platform for the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and other election stakeholders to develop and commit to implementing strategies, governance mechanisms, and policies that would build on trust and strengthen confidence in the country's election system. The President said the event was timely, especially with the upcoming Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) in October. He called for the active cooperation of stakeholders, experts, and civil society organizations to ensure free, fair, and credible elections in partnership with an enlightened, informed citizenry. "Driven by the commitment to strengthen the people's trust and confidence in the COMELEC, I ask you to open yourselves to the recommendations of our experts and Filipino voters, who are [our] partners in ensuring free, orderly, honest, and credible elections," Marcos said. "Let us learn from the areas we need to improve and explore solutions to make things work better for our beloved country," he added.