Comelec to drop barangay certificate requirement for voter registration

Commission on Elections chairman George Garcia — File photo

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will remove the barangay certificate as a requirement for voter registration for the 2025 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) and future polls.

Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia announced it on Thursday, citing recent cases of mass issuance of barangay certificates that could enable irregular transfers of voter registration.

“We are removing the barangay certification as a form of evidence to prove that individuals are residents of a certain area because we have investigated and filed cases against numerous barangay officials. We believe that the certification was used—or weaponized—to bring in people from other areas and falsely present them as residents,” Garcia said during a forum hosted by the Manila City Hall Reporters’ Association.

Voter registration for the 2025 BSKE is scheduled to run from July 1 to July 11, 2025.

READ: Brgy certificates’ ‘massive’ issuance caused Makati’s huge voter transfers

READ: Comelec probes possible sharing of voters in some areas

Garcia said this is the first time the poll body will remove barangay certificates from its list of requirements for voter registration, noting that Postal ID, senior citizen ID, and student ID will be accepted as proof of residency.

He cited the Supreme Court’s (SC) ruling in Sabili vs. Comelec, which allowed the use of a barangay certification as proof of residency for a candidate in Batangas whose residency had been questioned.

“So that’s what the Comelec did. We based it on the Sabili decision, which is why we included the barangay certification as evidence of residency. But we can say that applies to candidacy, whereas for voters, the requirements are different,” Garcia explained.

“Therefore, we are removing the barangay certification because some have seen it as a possible means to commit fraud,” he added.

Garcia also said the poll body would abide by any SC decision should their new rule be challenged./mcm