INSPECTION. Officials of the Commission on Elections led by Chairperson George Erwin Garcia and ePLDT Vitro chairperson Manuel V. Pangilinan (7th and 8th from left) lead the inspection of the data center in Makati City on Monday afternoon (Sept. 23, 2024). Garcia said the 2025 midterm elections’ results will be transparent, faster and secure. (PNA photo by Ferdinand Patinio)
MANILA – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has accredited 41 new party-list groups for the 2025 midterm elections.
In an interview on the sidelines of the inspection of the ePLDT Vitro data center in Makati City on Monday, Comelec Chair George Garcia said the total is lower than the nearly 70 new organizations accredited for the 2022 polls.
A total of 177 party-list organizations participated in the previous elections.
“Hindi naman dahil gusto lang namin mag-reduce ng party. Gusto lang natin ang grupo ay nagrerepresent ng marginalized at under-represented. Hindi na namin kaya pakialaman ang nakapag-participate na before (It's not because we just want to reduce the number of party-lists. We just want those groups that really represent the marginalized and under-represented. We can’t do anything anymore about those who have participated before),” he said.
The poll body rejected the application of 142 other groups for various reasons, like absence of by-laws, erroneous list of members, wrong signatory, dubious advocacy and fake documents.
More may be added to the list, Garcia said.
“Akala makakaligtas kasi. Matindi ang aming scrutiny sa nagpapa-accredit sa main (They think they can get away with it. Our scrutiny is tight),” Garcia said.
The Comelec's Office of the Clerk of the Commission has until this week to finalize the list of accredited party-list groups.
Meanwhile, Garcia said the poll body will install its servers for the 2025 elections in three locations.
The three locations will house the central server, back-up server and another server for election stakeholders such as the media, Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting, National Movement for Free Elections, and majority and minority parties.
Garcia did not identify the locations.
“We want to be transparent as possible, purpose natin. Mas mabilis access, mas mabilis na result, pero secure (We would have faster access, we would get the results faster but they are secured),” Garcia said. (PNA)
