The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said it has not received any reports of "major problems" in the first few hours of the mid-term polls on Monday, May 12, except for several reports of intimidation that the poll body was immediately able to contain.
Comelec: No major problems in early hours of elections
Published May 12, 2025 01:38 pm
There were also cases of poll watchers illegally assisting voters and shading ballots on their behalf.
Meanwhile, election watchdog Kontra Daya said it had received various election concerns, half of which were related to technical issues, such as faulty automated counting machines (ACMs).
Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said that the long lines of voters in polling precincts as early as 5 a.m., or when the special voting hours for senior citizens, persons with disabilities (PWDs) and pregnant women started, showed the Filipino's interest in participating in this year's polls.
"Napakadami ng tao. Ibig sabihin kahit mid-term elections, mukha namang maganda ang senyales na sadyang magboboto ang ating kababayan (There's a lot of people. So it means that even it's just mid-term elections, there's a good sign that a lot of our countrymen will cast their vote)," Garcia said in an ambush interview in Cavite.
As millions of Filipinos filled out their ballots for national and local seats, several parts of the country reported election-related incidents.
In Datu Odin Sinsuat, a town in Maguindanao del Norte, Garcia said the Comelec received reports of intimidation as several individuals tried to block the locals from voting.
Garcia said the poll body immediately alerted the military and the police, which immediately responded to the situation.
Meanwhile, in Abra, Garcia said two poll watchers were removed from their polling precinct after they were caught assisting a senior citizen in shading her ballot.
Such action is an election offense that is punishable by up to six years in prison, according to Garcia.
He said local Comelec officials already listed the identities of the poll watchers for the subsequent filing of charges.
"At least wala naman nagkakaputukan. Wala naman nagkakaroon ng violence talaga, pero yung pagpigil, more on intimidation, at hindi dapat nagkakaroon ng ganyang intimidation (At least, there's no report of firefights and other violence, except cases of intimidation that should not have happened)," he said.
There is also few reports on vote-buying, which Garcia attributed to the Comelec's order to the police to arrest even without warrant those they will catch buying votes.
As of Monday afternoon, Garcia also said there were no "major technical issues" during the conduct of elections, based on discussion of their regional directors.
However, polls watchgroup Kontra Daya said that as of 10:30 a.m., 42 percent of their verified complaints were about faulty ACMs that led to at least an hour of delay in voting process.
There were also reports that some ballots got stuck at ACMs, as well as questionable overvoting and rejected ballots.
Kontra Daya also said 22 percent of its verified complaint were about red-tagging, while 13 percent were about the board of electoral inspectors (BEI) who did not follow right election process.