Comelec prepares for 2025 polls

MANILA, Philippines — Preparations for the midterm polls in May 2025 begins this year even as the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has its hands full with a special election in Cavite next month and the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections in October.

Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia revealed in a Viber message to reporters that “preliminary preparations for 2025 elections” will be part of the plans, programs and projects of the poll body for 2023.

Garcia said they will also start preparing for the election summit, summer games, drafting of the Comelec five-year plan, digital transformation and the start of the construction of the Comelec building along with the creation of the Comelec Academy.

To start the year, the Comelec will hold the special election for the 7th congressional district of Cavite on Feb. 25 to fill in the seat in the House of Representatives vacated by Jesus Crispin Remulla, who has been appointed secretary of the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Garcia said that apart from attending to some plebiscites lined up, the Comelec will also prepare for the commission’s budget deliberations and human resource development.

Since his appointment last July, the Comelec chief has been pushing for a “bold and decisive and coordinated approach” to matters concerning the commission.