Bilang Pilipino 2025

By Anthony Divinagracia (May 14, 2025) – Family members may share a common name, but their political fates may not always be the same. Exhibit A: Some senatorial candidates in the 2025 elections. If anything, the recent polls showed how their families have dominated their respective strongholds yet again. But the disconnect is revealing. Of […] The post Deep Dive | Senatorial bets win some, lose some as relatives dominate their bailiwicks appeared first on N5E.

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections failed to root out vote-buying for the midterm elections, according to observers from the European Union, who deemed the practice "endemic and well-entrenched" in the Philippines.  The EU in March deployed an election observation mission to the Philippines to assess the conduct of the midterm polls. Based on observations from the start of the campaign period to election day on Monday (May 12), the mission found vote-buying a widespread practice on the campaign trail despite the Comelec's stricter regulations. RELATED: EU deploys election observers to Philippines for the first time "EU observers witnessed several credible indications and received reports of vote-buying through cash and goods, as well as partisan distribution of welfare payouts (ayuda)," the EU EOM, led by Chief Observer Marta Temido, said in a preliminary statement on Wednesday, May 14. The mission witnessed evidence of vote-buying at five of the 98 campaign events it observed. These incidents took place in multiple provinces: Bohol, Davao Oriental, La Union, Palawan, Quezon, Siquijor, and Zamboanga City and Zamboanga del Sur provinces.  The observers noted that in some areas, there were even "bidding wars" among contestants competing to buy votes. Besides the "countrywide partisan distribution" of government aid (ayuda), they also flagged what appeared to be politically-motivated distribution of rice bags bearing President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s initials and free public transportation in Manila during Labor Day weekend. These "enjoyed extensive media coverage that amplified their appeal," the observers said. Electoral violence flagged  The EU observers also pointed to "unacceptable levels of election-related violence," primarily in municipal and city races.  Reports cited by the mission indicated that at least 30 people — including candidates and election officials — were killed during the campaign period.  On election day alone, at least 10 fatalities were recorded, with violence particularly prevalent across the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Southern Mindanao (BARMM). "While violence was more prevalent in local rather than national elections, it often aimed to intimidate stakeholders, thus influencing the overall atmosphere," the statement read. The EU mission also lamented how its work was hampered when the poll body backpedaled in allowing them full access to the polling stations.  It accused the Comelec of disregarding prior commitments by asserting that EU observers were not allowed inside voting precincts.  This, according to the statement, forced the mission to scale back from its planned deployment of 226 observers and prevented it from seeing voting procedures first-hand.  "The EU EOM deployed its teams of observers across polling precincts in the country to observe counting. In eight of the 92 visited precincts, the EU observers were denied entrance, despite written assurances to the contrary provided by the COMELEC," it said. Despite these challenges, the EU observers said they were able to observe the counting in 84 polling precincts, with 82 of these observations assessed positively. They also observed provincial and municipal canvassing in 164 centers. Gaps in the law The statement noted that while the country's legal framework provides a basis for the conduct of democratic elections, it is "dispersed across multiple laws and regulations," with nearly half of the 1985 Omnibus Election Code's provisions no longer applicable. While the poll body had adopted resolutions against vote-buying and red-tagging, the mission also believes many of its measures could be legally challenged. "[The Comelec's] regulatory interventions have at times amounted to de facto law-making, leaving some of the initiatives open to legal challenges," the observer said. The EU mission will remain in the Philippines to observe post-election developments and will publish a final report with detailed recommendations within two months of the conclusion of the electoral process. 

An election lawyer urged the Commission on Elections to "educate" the production team of Batang Quiapo following the release of an episode that "misrepresented" campaign practices.

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) should release documents connected to the election contract it awarded to a South Korean company for this year’s midterm poll to spur public confidence in the electoral system, a watchdog group said on Monday. In a statement, Democracy Watch Philippines pushed the poll body to disclose all documents regarding the […]