Comelec sets special polls in 2nd district of Antipolo City

MANILA, Philippines—The Commission on Elections (Comelec) announced on Wednesday that it will hold a special election on March 14 in the the second district of Antipolo City following the death of Rep. Romeo Acop in December last year.

During a press briefing, Comelec Chairperson George Erwin Garcia explained that the Constitution requires the commission to conduct a special election should there be a vacancy in Congress.

The elections must be conducted 60 days after the position was made vacant, but no later than 90 days.

Garcia said the decision to hold the polls was made without a declaration of vacancy or a call for a special election from the House of Representatives, because a previous Supreme Court decision ruled that the Comelec may rely on news reports to determine whether there is a vacancy in Congress.

Garcia said that he had written to House Speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy to inform him of the agency’s election preparations and to also request any possible assistance that the House may extend to the poll body.

READ: Antipolo City Rep. Romeo Acop; 78

Currently, the Comelec is seeking funding to produce the budget it needs to conduct the special elections, which is estimated to cost around P98 million.

Garcia said the Comelec will check whether it can tap the Office of the President’s contingency fund for the needed funds.

“The reason why the Comelec may have to spend that much for one election… is because the second district of Antipolo has more or less 300,000 voters, the highest out of any district in the Philippines,” he said.

Under the 2026 General Appropriations Act, Garcia noted that the Comelec has only an allocation of P11 million for the conduct of special elections.

When it comes to the conduct of the elections, Garcia said it will have to be held manually, noting that this is usually the case for special elections.

“It will not be an automated election. We do not have machines that we can use because we do not have the money to make a contract and we do not have time to have a procurement for an automated election,” he said.

He added that the Election Registration Board in Antipolo’s second district will hold a meeting to approve voter registration applications and finalize the number of precincts to be used for the special elections.

“In the special election, those who can vote are those who were registered at the time of the conduct of the election,” Garcia explained.

Acop, known for his “tactical interrogation” at congressional inquiries, was 78 when he died on Dec. 20 due to a heart attack. 

He was the one who noticed that an acknowledgement receipt for confidential expenses made by the office of Vice President Sara Duterte was signed by “Mary Grace Piattos”—a name similar to a restaurant and a potato chip brand. /gsg