Comelec chief tells VP Duterte: 2025 elections free of cheating
Comelec chair George Erwin Garcia —Niño Jesus Orbeta
MANILA, Philippines — Commission on Elections (Comelec) chair George Erwin Garcia on Wednesday assured Vice President Sara Duterte that the 2025 elections will be free of “cheating.”
Garcia said that the Comelec understands the sentiments of the vice president. He also pointed out that the warning is not directed toward the poll body.
“Ginagarantiya po ng iyong komisyon na magiging transparent ang halalan, upang mapataas natin ang integridad ng ating halalan and at the same time, ay kilalanin ang mapoproklama ang dapat na iproklama dito sa halalan na ito,” Garcia told reporters in an interview.
(The Commission guarantees that the elections will be transparent to raise the integrity of the elections, and at the same time, recognize the winners that will be proclaimed in these elections.)
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He also said that transparency will prove the clean intentions of the 2025 elections.
“Walang dayaan na mangyayari sa halalan at yan ay mapapatunayan namin sa pamamagitan ng paggamit ng makabagong teknolohiya pero open and transparent,” Garcia added.
(No cheating will happen in these elections and that will be proven through our use of new technology but is open and transparent.)
This came after Vice President Duterte, in an ambush interview outside the Villamor Air Base on Tuesday evening, warned of the gravity of “election cheating” in the 2025 elections.
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She tried to visit former President Rodrigo Duterte, who was bound to The Hague, the Netherlands, but was barred entry. The older Duterte was issued an arrest warrant by the Internal Criminal Court for crimes against humanity allegedly committed during his drug war campaign under his administration.
“Mukhang matatalo sila sa midterm elections dahil—dahil ang lakas ng votes rates sa nine candidates ng PDP-Laban. At mag-ingat kayo ha, I warned you about the budget. I’m warning all of you about election cheating,” she told reporters.
(It seems like they will lose the midterm elections because the vote rates of the nine candidates of PDP-Laban is strong. And beware, I warned you about the budget. I’m warning all of you about election cheating.)
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She also questioned her father’s arrest and called it a political move. Further, she said that nothing should be expected from the statements of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Sara Duterte and President Ferdinand Marcos who were under the same “Uniteam” ticket in the 2022 polls are seemingly caught up in a political turmoil.
It can be recalled that the vice president in an online press conference ordered the assassination of Marcos, his wife Liza, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez if she gets killed.
