Comelec deletes in NPO servers all files used in midterm polls
MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Tuesday deleted the files from all of its printed materials used in the 2025 midterm elections.
According to Commissioner Rey Bulay, Commissioner-in-Charge of the Committee on Ballot Printing, the deletion of files is the last step of the printing process.
The files were deleted from the servers of the National Printing Office (NPO) in Quezon City. The NPO housed the printing of ballots and voter information sheet (VIS) for the 2025 midterm polls.
“All the soft copies of ballot faces, every face issued in official ballots, VIS, those used in field testing, and reprints were erased from the database, from Comelec’s servers,” Bulay told reporters in an interview at the NPO.
READ: Comelec completes printing of official ballots for 2025 polls
Bulay said that this procedure was done so the data will not be used in the future. He added that the poll body is not allowed to back up files.
“The Commission en banc approved this procedure on May 27,2025 in accordance with the Data Protection Act. We complied accordingly,” Bulay noted.
Bulay also said that the deletion of files in the NPO servers marks the end of the poll body’s procedure for the 2025 midterm elections.
Bangsamoro Parliamentary polls
Bulay shared that the Comelec will start printing ballots in August for the first Bangsamoro Parliamentary elections. The elections will be held on October 13, 2025 after it was rescheduled from May 12, 2025.
READ: Comelec gearing up for BARMM polls in October
He said that around 2.3 million ballots will be printed for the elections, including the ones the poll body will use for the roadshow of automated counting machines and training among electoral board members.
He also mentioned that the elections will push through even if the seven parliamentary seats are not yet reallocated.
The elections were originally set to fill 80 seats in the parliament. However, only 73 seats were left due to the non-inclusion of Sulu Province from the region. The Supreme Court previously granted Sulu’s petition for its non-inclusion in the region after rejecting the Bangsamoro Organic Law in their plebiscite.
BSKE preparations
Bulay, who is also the Commissioner-in-Charge of the 2025 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) said that the poll body will continue to procure 60,000 pieces of ballot boxes whether the BSKE will be postponed or not.
“The production and mold are not just the problem, but also the materials and availability of materials,” Bulay said.
Comelec chair George Erwin Garcia earlier said that he would call for an all-official emergency meeting following the Congress’ ratification of the bicameral conference committee report to tackle measures, such as postponing procurement and the voter registration period.
The voter registration period has been reset to October 2025 to July 2026. /cb
