Preparations for the 2022 elections

Local executives are optimistic of peaceful elections on Monday in North Cotabato and Basilan provinces.

North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza says Saturday she is thankful to the Army’s 602nd Infantry Brigade of the 6th Infantry Division and units of the Eastern Mindanao Command in the province for supporting extensively the efforts of the Commission on Elections to ensure the safety of polling activities on Monday.

“We are also thankful to the Cotabato Provincial Police Office and the Police Regional Office-12 for their initiatives towards that goal. We are looking forward to a peaceful electoral exercise in our province on Monday,” Mendoza says. — The STAR/John Unson

May 9, election day, has been declared a special non-working holiday.

In a proclamation released Thursday, President Rodrigo Duterte declared the holiday "to enable the people to properly exercise their right to vote, subject to the public health measures of the national government." — report from Alexis Romero

READ: Proclamation No. 1357 declaring May 9, election day, a special non-working holiday @PhilippineStar @Philstarnews pic.twitter.com/EvUUNb8Yuf

— Alexis B. Romero (@alexisbromero) May 5, 2022

The Bangsamoro police has mobilized 6,347 personnel to guard 1,195 polling sites in five provinces under its jurisdiction.

Brig. Gen. Arthur Cabalona, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, says Thursday the contingent includes 706 Reaction Standby Support Force and 405 Quick Reactionary Force personnel for deployment to Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur provinces.

Tension has markedly been high in some towns in both provinces owing to the deep-seated political animosity among local clans.

Besides Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao also covers the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi and the cities of Lamitan, Marawi and Cotabato. — John Unson

The Commission on Election starts the distribution and conduct of the testing and sealing of the vote counting machines (VCMs) six days prior to the election day in the remote and far flung villages in Zamboanga City.

The early distribution of the VCMs was made with the authority of the Comelec central office following the recommendation of the local poll body here, says District 2 officer Atty. Stephen Roy Cañete.

“We asked permission and we were given the authority by the Comelec central office to start the distribution of the VMCs early. In case there will be glitches we still have enough time to replace the defective VCM,” Cañete says. — The STAR/Roel Pareño

Authorities say a hundred more soldiers had been deployed in the politically hostile Malabang town in Lanao del Sur to help ensure peaceful elections in the area on May 9.

The Commission on Elections had placed Malabang under its control due to the tension between two camps that each has a candidate for municipal mayor.

Major Gen. Juvymax Uy, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, says they have deployed their 62nd Reconnaissance Company, composed of 100 soldiers, in Malabang in support of Comelec’s election security efforts in the area. — The STAR/John Unson

Comelec reiterates that those who are positive with COVID-19 or are in isolation will not be allowed to vote on May 9.

Comelec Commissioner George Garcia says those who may be feeling symptoms but do not have a positive result are allowed to go to polling centers.

The Commission on Election (Comelec) will not postpone the conduct of the national and local elections in the areas devastated by typhoon, according to one of the poll body commissioners here Saturday.

This was assured by Comelec Commissioner George Erwin Garcia who joined Chairman Saidamen Pangarungan during the signing of covenant in Basilan State College here by the candidates coming from Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi area.

Garcia said even those calamity stricken or places with high cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) there will be no cancellation or declaration of failure of elections. -- The STAR/Roel Pareño

The DOJ will form a composite team for the Comelec's Inter-Agency Task Force Against Vote Buying.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra says the agency will prioritize vote buying complaints that will be filed before the DOJ.

 "Considering the importance of the forthcoming elections to the survival and recovery of the nation, I will direct the DOJ contingent to give the highest priority to this campaign in the next 40 days," Guevarra says. — report from Evelyn Macairan

Benhur Abalos Jr. has resigned as chair of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority to join the election campaign of Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. as campaign manager.

Police have arrested 20 individuals in violation of the Omnibus Election Code since the start of election period last January 9, 2022, police said. 

Police Col. Gliserio Cansilao, Batangas police director, said the operation stemmed from a shooting incident in Calaca town.

A certain Geohary Mangundaya was gunned down by police when he evaded a checkpoint and engaged in a shootout with police on January 22 in Sitio Cahigpitan, Brgy. Madalunot, Calaca, Batangas.

During the checkpoint operation police were able to confiscate 18 firearms and assorted ammunition. 

Police continue to conduct PNP-Comelec checkpoints to ensure the clean and peaceful election this coming May 2022 national and local election. — The STAR/Arnell Ozaeta

A municipal councilor in Zamboanga del Sur landed in jail for carrying a gun outside of residence in disregard of restrictions set by the Commission on Elections. 

Jovert Dahunan, a coucilor of Kumalarang, Zamboanga del Sur, was nabbed Monday night at a checkpoint by police enforcing the Comelec gun ban.

He was immediately clamped down in a detention facility of the Kumalarang Municipal Police Station. — The STAR/John Unson

Police at a checkpoint in Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay arrested two teens for carrying replica handguns on Sunday.

Implementation of the Commission on Elections gun ban started over the weekend. The ban on carrying or using guns during the election period is meant to curb election-related violence.

Personnel of the 2nd Zamboanga Sibugay Province Mobile Force Company when they flagged down the teens, who were riding a motorycle along the national highway, near dawn on Sunday. 

Police Brig. Gen. Franco Simborio, Police Regional Office 9 (PRO) director, says police noticed a suspicious item tucked in one of the suspects' waist. "The personnel immediately requested the person to remove the item from his waist and it was found out it was a replica of a 1911 caliber .45 pistol," Simborio says.

Since the two could not produce documentation for the replica gun, they were arrested. 

Under a 2013 Philippine National Police, airsoft pistols and rifles need to be registered with the police. — The STAR/Roel Pareño

Google will pause all electoral and political advertisements in relation to the 2022 national and local elections at the start of the campaign period, the Commission on Elections says.

The campaign period will start on Feb. 8,2022 for national candidates and March 2, 2022 for local candidates.

"Google will not accept election advertisements in the Philippines that are purchased through Google Ads, Display and Video 360, and Shopping platforms that advertisers intend to place on Google, YouTube and partner properties," the poll body says in a statement.

PRESS RELEASE: Google To Pause Election Advertisements During Campaign Period@jabjimenez @Atty_Lai pic.twitter.com/atrVlxofin

— COMELEC (@COMELEC) December 1, 2021

A maximum of 10 voters will only be allowed inside the polling place during the May 9, 2022 elections, the Comelec says.

This is part of the poll body's preventive measures against COVID-19.

More than 10 voters will be allowed for larger polling centers that can accommodate more people. Holding rooms will also be established in adjacent rooms for voters waiting for their turn.

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte announces on Facebook that she is withdrawing her candidacy for mayor. Her brother Sebastian "Baste" Duterte will replace her.

The Department of Labor and Employment on October 2 issues a press release on Isabela officials declaring support for Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III's potential candidacy for senator.

Bello is included in the potential senatorial slate of a faction of the PDP-Laban.

While Bello is head of the labor department, it is unclear why his potential political plans and publishing press releases about them fall within the mandate of the Department of Labor and Employment.  

President Rodrigo Duterte and his long-time aide Sen. Christopher "Bong" Go have arrived at the area at a Pasay City hotel where the filing of certificates of candidacy are filed.

Duterte has openly said he will run for vice president. Go has been nominated to run for president by PDP-Laban but the senator says he is not interested.

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez says compliance with protocols for the COC filing was mostly good.

“For the most part compliance with health protocols good. There were some instances where we had to remind people to maintain their distance but otherwise people have been good in complying with antigen testing, with the face mask and face shield requirement and social distancing,” Jimenez says.

“Of course, it’s a little difficult to always maintain social distance but we’re trying and everyone deserves credit for being aware of this requirement at all times.” — Philstar.com/Gaea Katreena Cabico

Sen. Risa Hontiveros will file her certificate of candidacy on Friday, October 1, her office says in an advisory.

The filing of COCs for the 2022 polls will be from October 1-8. 

The Philippine National Police on Thursday morning deployed personnel to a hotel in Pasay City where the filing will be held.

Former Sen. Jinggoy Estrada says he will run for senator in 2022. 

His brother JV Ejercito, also a former senator, has also said he will run for the Senate next year.

The two failed to get Senate seats in 2019 in polls that also saw their father Joseph Ejercito Estrada lose his bid for reelection as mayor of Manila. 

Voter registration for overseas Filipinos who wish to vote in the 2022 general elections will also be extended for two weeks.

Comelec says overseas voter registration will be extended from October 1 to 14.

Voter registration will be formally be extended from October 9 to 31, Comelec chair Sheriff Abas says in an interview with CNN Philippines' The Source.

Abas says the poll body's directors were initially not in favor of extending voter registration, which ends on Thursday.

"But after discussing, en banc will 'more likely' approve the extension. We will formalize today the declaration for the extension," Abas says.

Rep. Francisco Matugas, speaking on behalf of the Commission on Elections during the House budget deliberations, says the poll body will be extending voter registration until October 31. — Xave Gregorio

The extension of voter registration, which will end on Thursday, will be discussed by the Comelec en banc on Wednesday, the poll body says.

"After consultation with COMELEC officials, and in consideration of the public clamor, it is likely that an extension of the period of voter registration will be granted," Jimenez says. — report from News5/Maricel Halili

Businesswoman Katrina Gloria Ponce Enrile, daughter of former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, is among the new candidates that Lakas-CMD is fielding, the party says in a release.

She will be running for district representatives of the 1st District of Cagayan.

Manila Mayor Isko Moreno will announce his candidacy for president in the 2022 elections on Wednesday, September 22, News5 reports.

Moreno will be running alongside Dr. Willie Ong, it also reports.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III and Sen. Panfilo Lacson officially launch their election tandem for the 2022 polls.

Lacson will be seeking the presidency while Sotto is running for vice president.

The Cusi wing of the administration PDP-Laban party is holding a national convention in Pampanga on the same day.

President Rodrigo Duterte has decided to run for vice president, his spokesperson Harry Roque says in a press briefing.

Roque says the president told him Wednesday afternoon that "things are clear now, I will run [for] vice president."

The new decision comes after Roque said Duterte told members of the Cabinet that he would not push through with running if his daughter Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte decides to run for president. That declaration was supposedly edited out of the recording of the president's weekly briefings, which are aired late at night.

Mayor Duterte, in a statement on Wednesday, said she should be left out of talks of her father's vice-presidential run, supposedly with Sen. Christopher Go.

"E di wow," Sen. Risa Hontiveros says of administration PDP-Laban's announcement that President Rodrigo Duterte has agreed to be its vice-presidential canddiate in 2022.

Hontiveros acknoweldges parties pick their candidates through their own processes, "but it seems some gatekeepers in PDP-Laban have turned Ka Nene [Pimentel]’s original party into a 'zombie' institution which is only performing rituals empty of substance and principle."

Referencing Duterte's last-minute decision to run for president in 2016, Hontiveros says "it is still early in the day."

"Perhaps, by midnight the president would have changed his mind at least four to five times."

Sen. Risa Hontiveros says she is honored to be included in the minority Liberal Party's potential list of senatorial candidates in 2022.

"We, in my party, Akbayan, are also in the process of  developing and uniting alternative choices of leaders for the 2022 Elections. Our lines of communication have always been open to other parties — including LP, our old coalition partner — to strengthen our alliances," she also says.

"Akbayan is charting its own course and remains committed to building a united front that recognizes, in the fullest sense, the responsibility of fighting for and maintaining democratic principles."

The First Time Voters' Network appeals to the Commission on Elections to reconsider its decision not to extend the voter registration period citing possible extensions to quarantine restrictions that have suspended registration in some areas.

It says it is considering legal options to compel Comelec to extend the registration period.

"We are also thankful for COMELEC in their decision to extend the registration hours which will be of help to those with limited availability during weekdays," the group says.

"We also welcome the provided guidelines for online reactivation for senior citizens, persons with disabilities (PWDs), and persons deprived of liberty (PDLs). These remedies, however helpful, are sorely limited for areas where registration has been suspended for months because of the community quarantine. Voter registration is an essential service of the government to the people and no first time voter should be denied the chance to participate in the elections."

The Makabayan bloc at the House of Representatives files a resolution urging the Commission on Elections to extend the voter registration to deter massive voter disenfranchisement amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The lawmakers point out that the five-and-a-half-month suspension of voter refistration period due to community quarantines is equivalent to approximately 28.3% or 164 days.

"Whereas, the backlog and challenges in voter's registration threaten to disenfranchise an estimated 13.1 million prospective voters in the upcoming 2022 national elections," the resolution read.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros says she supports the youth leaders in their call for voter registration extension. 

"I stand with you in calling for a significant extension for voters’ registration. Ang daming nakataya sa parating na eleksyon," says Hontiveros.

"Let it be clear that the voice of the youth is strong, and that the voice of the youth should not be ignored. While we build a new and better normal, the youth should decide what that will look like. The youth should decide the outcome of the 2022 elections. And that should begin by giving you the time you are promised by our laws," she adds.

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, a first-termer, says on ANC's "Headstart" that he plans to run for vice president in 2022. Gatchalian has yet to talk to Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III, who is a party mate in the Nationalist People's Coalition.

Sotto has said that he plans to run for vice president alongside Sen. Panfilo Lacson. 

The United Nationalist Alliance, an opposition coalition during the Aquino administration, is suspending "all matters concerning alliances, coalitions, and other political activities" in light of uncertainty brought by the COVID-19 Delta variant.

"Amid the atmosphere of 'Elections 2022', UNA finds it cold and insensitive to put on the table any electoral agenda while our people are experiencing uncertainties in the wake of the growing Delta variant cases in the country," the party says.

"Politics is aggravating a public health issue," it says, adding party members will instead focus on helping address the pandemic.

Comelec signs memoranda of agreement with two internet voting solutions provides — Indra Sistemas and Voatz — for live runs of their overseas internet voting systems.

This is part of the poll body's exploratory study for possible use of internet voting.

"The test runs, which come at no cost to the commission, will begin in July. This exploratory test use of a mobile app for overseas voters is groundbreaking, and the results will be a significant and valuable impact on how elections may be conducted in the future," Commissioner Rowena Guanzon says.

PRESS RELEASE: COMELEC Signs MOA for Overseas Internet Voting Test Runs@jabjimenez @dirfrancesarabe pic.twitter.com/y4Ib8QF14P

— COMELEC (@COMELEC) June 23, 2021

President Rodrigo Duterte says he is preparing for retirement amid a supposed clamor for him to run as vice president in the 2022 national elections.

"Mahirap 'yan pastor, mag-retire na ako, tapos ako mamili ng presidente, sabihin nila (you will just) perpetuate yourself in power," Duterte tells Pastor Apollo Quiboloy in an interview.

Vice President Leni Robredo has not made a decision on the 2022 elections, her spokesperson Barry Gutierrez says.

Gutierres adds that it is not true that Robredo is making preparations to run for governor in her home province Camarines Sur.

"This is not a time for politicking, but for working for the people’s welfare. She remains open to all options, including a possible candidacy for President, and at the appropriate time, she will personally convey her decision on this matter," Gutierrez says.

Voter registration in areas under enhanced community quarantine — National Capital Region, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal — will remain suspended from April 5 to 11.

The Commission on Election says all its offices in the affected areas will remain temporarily closed. The issuance of voter's certification in the Offices of the Election Officer (OEO) and the Comelec main office in Intramuros will also remain suspended.

"Meanwhile, for the rest of the OEOs in the country, voter registration will resume on April 5, 2021," the poll body says.

PRESS RELEASE: COMELEC Offices in ECQ Areas To Remain Closed@jabjimenez @dirfrancesarabe pic.twitter.com/38PWRu6pCp

— COMELEC (@COMELEC) April 5, 2021

Voter registration hours will be shortened and satellite registration will be suspended due to the recent surge of COVID-19 cases in the country.

The Comelec announces that all Offoces of the Election Officer nationwide will accept applications for voter registration from Mondays to Thursdays, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

"The conduct of satellite registration in barangay halls, day care centers, covered courts and other satellite offices nationwide will likewise be suspended until further notice," Comelec says.

PRESS RELEASE: Voter Registration Hours Shortened, Satellite Registration Suspended@jabjimenez @dirfrancesarabe pic.twitter.com/kTeKVC21yj

— COMELEC (@COMELEC) March 20, 2021

The Commission on Elections considers removing 39 party-list groups for the May 9, 2022 elections.

Citing Republic Act 7941 or the Party-List System Act, the poll body says it is authorized to delist of any party-list group for failure to participate in the last two preceding elections.

The poll body can also cancel the registration of a party-list group for failure to obtain at least 2% of votes cast under the party-list system in the last two elections.

Press Release: COMELEC to Delist 39 Party-List Groups for 2022 Polls@jabjimenez @dirfrancesarabe pic.twitter.com/aQ1dJFLndU

— COMELEC (@COMELEC) February 8, 2021

The Commission on Elections' Office for Overseas Voters calls on registered overseas voters to participate in the test run for internet voting.

The link to the sign-up form could be accessed on the OFOV Facebook page (www.facebook.com/overseasvotingph).

"A smartphone capable of running Android or iOS apps, a laptop or personal computer, or any mobile device with internet/data access is required in order to participate in the test run," Comelec says.

PRESS RELEASE: Overseas Voters Called to Take Part in Internet Voting Test Run@jabjimenez @dirfrancesarabe pic.twitter.com/raEtqvAFGA

— COMELEC (@COMELEC) February 8, 2021

Get the latest updates on the Philippines' preparation for the May 2022 national elections amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Main image by The STAR/Michael Varcas