More than 68 million Filipinos are expected to cast their votes today, as the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is all hands on deck to ensure a peaceful and smooth conduct of May 2025 midterm elections.

For this election, a total of 18,215 elective posts will be contested nationwide, including 12 senators, 63 party-list seats, and 254 district representatives. At the local level, Filipinos will vote for 82 governors, 82 vice governors, 800 provincial board members, 149 city mayors and vice mayors, 1,690 city councilors, 1,493 municipal mayors and vice mayors, and 11,948 members of the Sangguniang Bayan.

This also marks a major shift in voting technology after the poll body parted ways with Smartmatic's Vote Counting Machines (VCMs) used in the previous elections since 2010. For the first time, the voting public will make use of the leased Automated Counting Machines (ACMs) from South Korea’s Miru Systems.

But Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said that it's not about the machines, but what matters is the people's vote. He previously called on Filipino voters to actively participate and cast their votes, stressing the importance of each citizen's vote in shaping the country's future.

He also underscored the power of the vote as a means to correct and improve society.

"It's not about the machines. It's about us. Our democracy. Our future. Our vote matters," he said.

Meanwhile, Garcia attributes the poll body's state of readiness to months of early planning, voter education, and a stronger push to combat election-related misinformation. Garcia stressed the importance of being proactive:

“Yun pong planning, napaka-importante na plan ahead. And therefore may kaunting diperensya man, meron pang sufficient time makakagawa pa tayo ng paraan (Planning is very important — you need to plan ahead. And so, even if there are minor issues, there's still enough time for us to find a solution),” he said.

As polling centers nationwide prepare to open on Monday, the Comelec chief issued key reminders for candidates and their supporters. Candidates may vote, but should refrain from loitering near polling precincts after casting their ballots.

“Hangga't maari yung kandidato umuwi na lang pagkatapos nilang bumoto huwag na pong maglamiyerda, umikot ikot baka po kasi i-consider pa yan ng kalaban ninyo na kayo ay nangangampanya (As much as possible, candidates should just go home after voting — don’t loiter or go around, because your opponents might consider that as campaigning)," he said.

Garcia also clarified that while wearing shirts in campaign colors is allowed, shirts with candidate images or coordinated outfits intended to sway voters could still be questioned by poll watchers or opponents.

Garcia also reminded voters that cellphones may be used inside polling places only for referring to digital "kodigo" lists—not for taking photos or videos.

With reports of "free rides" and "free food" that are prominent during voting hours, Garcia also warned against subtle forms of vote-buying.

“May naglilibreng sakay, libreng pakape kunwari pero napakadami namang pinapakain—yan po vote-buying at vote-selling (There are those offering free rides or supposedly free coffee, but in reality, they’re giving out a lot of food—that is vote-buying and vote-selling),” he added that voters caught accepting cash or gifts in exchange for votes can be charged with a criminal offense punishable by up to six years in prison.

“Wala pong vote buying na walang vote selling. It takes two to tango sa vote-buying (There’s no vote buying without vote selling… It takes two to tango when it comes to vote-buying),” he said.

Garcia said that technically, they don't need to have a timeline to resolve the pending cases against candidates, especially for local positions, since they can still remove them.

"Kasi kahit nakaupo na sila lalo't lokal hahabulin pa rin namin sila. Ang dami namin natanggal nga kahit noong barangay and SK, kahit na nakaupo na sila, nanalo na sila, naproklama sila, tinanggal pa rin namin (Because even if they're already in office—especially at the local level—we’ll still go after them. We've removed many, even during the Barangay and SK elections. Even if they had already assumed office, won, and were proclaimed, we still removed them)," he said.

"Sayang po yun, iipin nyo naipanalo nyo na, naproklama na kayo dahil sa pending case ayon, natanggal pa. Ibig sabihin, hindi nawawala ang jurisdiction ng Comelec. Naandyan yan anytime (It’s a waste—you’d think you’ve already won and been proclaimed, but because of a pending case, you still get removed. That means Comelec’s jurisdiction doesn’t go away. It’s there at any time)," he added.

The poll chief said that they expect cases to come in today before candidates get proclaimed.

For national positions, Garcia said that while they can still go after them even if they get proclaimed and have taken their oath. He explained that the poll body still has jurisdiction over them from May 12 until June 30 at 12 noon.