Comelec only deleted voter info sheet, ballot soft copies – exec

Commission on Elections Commissioner Rey Bulay —File photo

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) did not delete any evidence that candidates of the 2025 midterm elections can use in their protest on the results of the elections.

Commissioner Rey Bulay made this clarification on Tuesday as the poll body deleted the data files of the voter information sheet (VIS) at the National Printing Office satellite printing facility in Meycauayan, Bulacan.

He explained that what the Comelec deletes is the soft copy of the files that are used to generate hard copies of election materials such as the VIS and ballots.

READ: Comelec deletes in NPO servers all files used in midterm polls

“We are not deleting anything because everything becomes hard copy. The hard copy becomes the evidence. What we delete is the VIS face, the four pages,” Bulay said in his speech.

The printing of the VIS for 45 days was done in the satellite office. The VIS is a four-page booklet that contains a registered voter’s name, address, precinct number, reminders for voting, and the names of candidates for the national and local elections.

Bulay, the commissioner-in-charge of the Ballot Printing Committee, said that the poll body is not discarding the hard copies of the ballots used in the elections.

READ: No politics in distribution of voter information sheet

“The ballots are still in the ballot boxes. The Comelec is waiting for you to use them as evidence if you have complaints,” Bulay noted.

Last week, Bulay also led the deletion of the data files in the servers of the NPO in Quezon City. The NPO housed the printing of the ballots and VIS for the elections.

Bulay said that this procedure was done so the data will not be used in the future, emphasizing that the poll body is not allowed to back up files.

He earlier noted that this procedure was approved by the Comelec en banc on May 27, 2025, in accordance with the Data Protection Act.

BSKE preparations

Bulay, who also serves as the commissioner-in-charge of the 2025 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE), said that the poll body continues its preparations for the elections.

“Unless there is a law, our procurement continues. Because (unless) there is a TRO (or temporary restraining order), we are obliged to conduct the elections,” he said.

The Senate and the House of Representatives ratified a bill that sets four-year terms from the current three-year terms of elected barangay officials. It now awaits President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s signature.

Should this be enacted into law, the BSKE will be moved from December 1, 2025 to the first Monday of November 2026. /das