Camille Naredo

Comelec Chairman George Garcia presides over the Raffle of Party-List Groups and Organizations or Coalitions' Order in the Official Ballot for the 2025 National and Local Elections  held at the Chairman's Hall, Palacio del Gobernador, Intramuros, Manila  on October 18, 2024 Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

COMELEC-PARTYLIST

Johnson Manabat

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/173857963886220241018-comelec-partylist-numbering-raffle-JC-7429.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Comelec Chairman George Garcia presides over the Raffle of Party-List Groups and Organizations or Coalitions&#x27; Order in the Official Ballot for the 2025 National and Local Elections  held at the Chairman&#x27;s Hall, Palacio del Gobernador, Intramuros, Manila  on October 18, 2024 Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Comelec Chairman George Garcia presides over the Raffle of Party-List Groups and Organizations or Coalitions&#x27; Order in the Official Ballot for the 2025 National and Local Elections  held at the Chairman&#x27;s Hall, Palacio del Gobernador, Intramuros, Manila  on October 18, 2024. <em>Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) believes President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. may appoint two new commissioners after the session of both houses of Congress.</p><p>Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia expressed hope that the vacancies left by retired commissioners Socorro Inting and Marlon Casquejo would be filled by next week.</p><p>“Kapag nag-appoint ang pangulo sa kasalukuyan na ang congress ay in session, therefore magiging regular appointment yun - kapag regular appointment ay hindi pupuwedeng manungkulan yung itatalaga ng pangulo - so inaasahan natin na sana na baka makapagtalaga ang pangulo ng kahalinhin nila pagkatapos na makapag-break ang ating kongreso - sana nga by next week meron,” Garcia explained.</p><p>On January 30, 2025, Comelec held a retirement ceremony for Inting and Casquejo at the Manila Hotel.</p><p>With their departure, three of the remaining five commissioners are Marcos appointees: Garcia, Ernesto Maceda Jr., and Noel Celis. The other two, Aimee Ferolino and Rey Bulay, were appointed by former President Rodrigo Duterte.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/2/2/marcos-jr-should-appoint-comelec-commissioner-recommended-by-opposition-lawyer-2132">READ: Marcos Jr. should appoint COMELEC commissioner recommended by opposition, says election lawyer</a></div><div><strong>PREFERENCE FOR INSIDERS</strong></div><p>While acknowledging that the final decision rests with the president, Garcia expressed his preference for appointing Comelec insiders.</p><p>“Napakadami pong qualified dito sa Comelec, ‘Pagka kasi galing dun sa sinasabing grupo o galing sa isang partido - hindi na po magiging impartial ang komisyon kung ganon pala ang requirement. Kung insiders kasi, in terms of haba ng paglilingkod sa comelec…madami diyan 35 years…37, 40 years - hindi naman maitatanggi na yung haba ng panahon na yun, nasubukan na yung kanilang katapatan at pagiging fair sa ating halalan,” Garcia explained.</p><div><strong>ASSURANCE FOR IMPARTIALITY</strong></div><p>Garcia assured the public that Comelec would remain impartial, even if Marcos ends up appointing the majority of the commission’s en banc members.</p><p>“Lahat po ng pangulo nakapag-appoint kasi ng majority of the members ng commission en banc…lagi pong ganon, darating ang time na yung 7 year term ay mag-o-overlap dun sa papalit (JC) ang ginagarantiya ko naman sa inyo…kahit naman for example tayo ay natalaga ng present administration, siguro naman napapatunayan natin yung impartiality natin sa lahat ng mga pangyayari,” according to Garcia.</p><div><strong>BALLOT PRINTING PROGRESS</strong></div><p>Meanwhile, Garcia reported that Comelec has exceeded its daily ballot printing target.</p><p>“Natutuwa tayo sapagkat on a daily basis nagiging 1.8 million, sana nga umabot pa ng 2 milyon bawat araw - ito po ay sumobra na doon sa ating daily output na gusto na 1.5 million. Ito po ay sa kadahilanan na una, ginamit natin yung machines ng NPO at machines ng HP - yung sa MIRU at dahil diyan nagreresulta ang bawat makita ng almost 900,000 bawat isa,” Garcia said.</p><p>However, Garcia noted that verification remains a challenge.</p><p>”Mabilis po ang printing namin ang medyo nababagalan po kami ay yung aming verification, ganon meron po kaming 800 tao -nagko-conduct ng verification pero tatandaan na ang verification ay dalawang klase - manual verification - isa-isang tinitingnan yung mga balota at pangalawa yung tinatawag na machine verification,” Garcia added.</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO: </strong></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3xy23Im79tQ?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><br/></div>

<p>The Commission on Elections (Comelec) believes President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. may appoint two new commissioners after the session of both houses of Congress.</p>

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) believes President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. may appoint two new commissioners after the session of both houses of Congress.

Comelec hopes new commissioners to be appointed after Congress session

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Comelec hopes new commissioners to be appointed after Congress session

Johnson Manabat,

ABS-CBN News

Published Feb 03, 2025 06:50 PM PHT

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