No area under Comelec control, so far

Commission on Elections Chairperson George Garcia (INQUIRER / NINO JESUS ORBETA)

MANILA, Philippines — No area in the country, so far, was placed under Commission on Elections control ahead of the 2025 midterm elections, Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia announced on Wednesday.

“Kahapon, habang kausap ang Chief PNP [Philippine National Police] base sa kanilang assessment honest to goodness kung mayroon na bang dapat na mailagay under Comelec control, sinabi naman talaga na wala at wala pa silang nakikitang dapat mailagay sa ganyang klaseng category,” Garcia told reporters in an interview.

(While talking to the PNP chief yesterday based on their honest to goodness assessment if there is a need to place any area under the Comelec control, he said that they do not see any area that must be placed under the said category yet.)

Garcia explained that putting a certain area under the Comelec control means they have the whole jurisdiction over the area, especially in deploying security forces or implementing policies. 

“Kami dito sa Comelec, wala pa kaming nakikitang dapat mailagay sa ganyang klaseng category na Comelec control area,” Garcia added. 

(We, here at the Comelec, haven’t seen any area yet that should be put under the Comelec control category.)

Officials of Comelec, PNP, and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Tuesday met with gubernatorial candidates from Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur for the signing of a peace covenant to ensure and uphold peace and safety in the May elections.

Garcia also said that the Comelec is expecting an increase of election-related violence in certain areas once the campaign period for the local candidates starts on March 28. 

Upon the release of an updated list of election areas of concern on Wednesday, Garcia noted that it will help them identify which areas they will deploy more security forces to. 

“Marami rin kaming dineploy na mga pwersa ng AFP at PNP sa may Maguindanao, Cotabato area sapagkat naniniwala kami na baka may susunod na mangyayari sa mga darating na araw,” he said. 

(We deployed more AFP and PNP personnel in Maguindanao and Cotabato because we believe that something might happen in the two areas in the coming days.)