Number of aspiring voters exceeds 1.7 million

MANILA, Philippines — The number of those who registered and are aspiring to vote in the May 2025 midterm elections has exceeded 1.7 million, according to the Commission on Elections.

Comelec Chairman George Garcia reported that the poll body has received a total of 1,716,019 applications for registration as of March 26.

Among the 17 regions nationwide, Calabarzon posted the biggest number of applicants with 313,826, followed by Metro Manila with 255,679 and Central Luzon with 191,320.

Central Visayas ranked fourth with 125,063, and the Davao region fifth with 113,443.

On the other hand, the Cordillera Administrative Region listed the lowest number of applicants with 20,534, followed by Mimaropa with 40,280 and Caraga with 46,441.

A total of 1,842 aspiring voters submitted their applications at the Comelec main office in Intramuros.

Of the total applicants, 891,817 are female while 824,193 are male.

The Comelec is targeting more than three million individuals to register as voters during the seven-month voter registration period that runs until Sept. 30, 2024.

Online voting for overseas Pinoys

Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco reported that internet voting will be the “primary mode” of voting for Filipinos abroad in next year’s elections.

“The conduct of in-person or mall-in voting will only happen in countries where internet voting isn’t allowed,” Laudiangco said yesterday. “We’re after not only giving our countrymen a convenient way to vote, but for our government to reduce its costs.”

There are 17 countries with internet restrictions, but Laudiangco said the Comelec is still negotiating with the respective governments for the possibility of allowing internet voting for Filipinos.

Among these countries are China, Russia, Türkiye, Nigeria, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Iran and Libya.

Laudiangco said Israel is no longer on the list, but due to the current situation there, “various modes of voting are being considered.”

Yesterday, the Comelec-Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC) held the second round of bidding for the P465.8-million Online Voting and Counting System for the midterm polls.

With P112,000,000, the joint venture of SMS Global Technologies Inc. and Sequent Tech Inc. was declared the lowest calculated bid and shall be subjected immediately to post qualification evaluation. Another joint venture – that of Voatz Inc., EPLDT Inc., and eBizolution Inc. – is the second lowest calculated bid with P435,528,888.

The Comelec previously awarded the contract for Full Automation System with Transparency Audit/Count or FASTrAC to the joint venture led by South Korean firm Miru Systems Co.

However, election watchdog KontraDaya convenor Edgar Erice said as a member of the Aksyon Demokratiko party, he will file a petition before the Supreme Court to stop the use of Miru Systems’ customized voting machines.

In a radio interview yesterday, Erice said it is clear that the voting machine to be manufactured by Miru is a “prototype” and thus has not been used in previous elections.

He said the use of a prototype voting machine is a violation of the poll automation law, and therefore considered illegal.

“Once and for all, as long as there is time, bring this issue to the Supreme Court to clarify the correct interpretation of the law,” Erice said.

He said that if the high court declares the use of the Miru-manufactured machine illegal, the Comelec can use old voting machines that were used in previous elections.

Meanwhile, the Comelec is expected to award the contract for the Secure Electronic Transmission Services (SETS) project soon.

Laudiangco said yesterday that the SBAC has submitted a recommendation for the awarding of the P1,638,501,499.40 contract to the joint venture of Ione Resources Inc. and Ardent Networks Inc.

“The en banc has done its evaluation of the technical working group’s report and SBAC resolution. Once they have decided, this would be the one declared the winner,” he said.

Laudiangco said the commission is likely to come out with a decision within the next few days.

He said the SBAC found the bid of joint venture Ione Resources Inc. and Ardent Networks “fully compliant” and “the lowest calculated and responsive bid,” and had passed all the requirements for the transmission project.

The Ione-Ardent joint venture tendered the “lowest calculated bid” of P1,426,000,348, while the joint venture of EBizolution Inc.-Secur Links Network and Technologies Inc.-Systems Information and Solutions Corp., offered the “second lowest calculated bid” of P1,628,888,888.