Comelec: Party-list names starting with ‘A,’ ‘1’ dropped since raffle

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Friday said there has been a decrease in party-list names starting with an “A” or “1” since the agency began raffling the list arrangement in the ballots.

Comelec chairman George Erwin Garcia made this observation after the raffle for the order of party-lists on the 2025 election ballot was held here at the Palacio del Gobernador.

“Yes, there are a lot [of reductions],” Garcia said when asked if the “A”s and “1” in the party-list names’ initials were reduced.

“Most of the initials no longer start at A, because they know that, in the end, the alphabetical arrangement will no longer be the basis of the list,” he said.

Since the 2013 elections, Comelec has conducted an electronic raffle to determine the order of party-lists on the ballot.

Before this system was held, several party-lists tried to game the system by putting the number “1” or letter “A” in their initials just to get the coveted top spot on the ballot.

“If there are party-lists starting with A, these were the political parties and organizations which already existed at a time when the usage of letter A or number 1 was a strategy to become first in the list,” Garcia noted.

Of the 156 party-lists for the 2025 elections, there are 40 that have an “A” in their initials, while only four have a name starting with “1.”

The 4Ps or Pagtibayin at Palaguin ang Pangkabuhayang Pilipino got the coveted first spot in the ballot list.