Comelec chief tells Filipinos: Voting in May 2025 polls a chance to set things right

Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Erwin Garcia on Friday, May 2, called on Filipino voters to actively participate in the upcoming May 2025 midterm polls, stressing the importance of each citizen’s vote in shaping the country’s future.

In an interview, Garcia underscored the power of the vote as a means to correct and improve society.

“Pagboto na ang paniniwala natin ito ang pagkakataon natin na ayusin ang lahat, itama ang lahat (“A vote that comes from the belief that this is our chance to fix everything, to make everything right),” he said.

“Sana po bumoto tayo sapagkat pagsisisihan natin kapag hindi tayo nag-participate sa pagkahalal ng ating mga leader. Kinakailangan mapagmalaki natin kasama ako sa pagboto sa kanya (I hope we vote because we will regret it if we don’t participate in electing our leaders. We need to be proud that we were part of voting for them),” he added.

He expressed confidence in the preparedness of the electoral board (EB) members, particularly public school teachers who will serve on election day. He even encouraged the public to witness firsthand the dedication and capability of poll workers by visiting precincts during the final testing and sealing (FTS) of automated counting machines (ACMs).

“Sana po sa buong Pilipinas magpadala kayo ng mga tao sa bawat presinto para makita niyo kung paano, kung ganoon kagagaling ang mga electoral board members natin, mga guro, habang inooperate nila, inaayos nila at binubuksan nila ang mga makina (So hopefully, across the entire Philippines, you can send people to each precinct so they can see just how skilled our electoral board members—our teachers—are as they operate, set up, and open the machines),” Garcia said.

He emphasized that teachers have undergone extensive training to properly manage the election process.

“Dahil talaga nag-undergo sila ng sobrang haba na training at diyan ang makikita kung ganoon sila kagagaling na na-apply nila ang kanilang mga natutunan sa training natin (Because they really underwent extensive training, and that’s where you’ll see just how skilled they are in applying what they learned from our training),” he added.

He assured the public that the poll body is nearly fully prepared to conduct the elections.

Garcia also expressed appreciation for the readiness of teachers and the availability of classrooms, regardless of size.

“Handa na po ang ating bayaning guro na magpahold ng eleksyon. Ang mga classrooms kahit maliliit pero handa na po tayo magpahold ng eleksyon (Our heroic teachers are ready to conduct the elections. Even if the classrooms are small, we are ready to hold the elections),” he said.

He then issued a heartfelt appeal to all eligible voters to go out and vote, urging them to do so with purpose.

“Sana po bumoto naman tayo ng araw ng eleksyon. At dapat ang pagboto natin, ang pagboto na may layunin. May layunin na ayusin ang ating bayan, ayusin ang ating probinsya, syudad, munisipyo (I hope we all vote on election day. And our voting should be purposeful — with the aim of improving our nation, our province, city, and municipality),” he said.

When asked about efforts to boost voter turnout, Garcia emphasized community encouragement, particularly to candidates regardless of their constituents’ political preference.

“Kahit nga po yung mga kandidato sana po sa sampung araw…Lahat tayo sama-sama engganyohin natin…bumoto man lang sa araw ng eleksyon. Whether ibaboto kayo o hindi, papuntahin natin sila (Even the candidates, hopefully within these ten days… All of us together should encourage them… just to vote on election day. Whether they vote for you or not, let’s still get them to go),” he said.

“Balewala po ang lahat ng pinangampanya natin kung ang mga taong nasa harapan natin habang nangangampanya, hindi rin pala pupunta sa bawat presinto (All our campaigning would be meaningless if the people in front of us while we’re campaigning don’t actually go to their respective precincts),” he added.

Garcia also reported that the Comelec had successfully distributed a large number of voter information sheets (VIS) and that many voters were able to confirm their polling precincts through the precinct finder.

He ended with a collective appeal: “So again, sama-sama na lang po tayo lahat, panawagan, boboto ako, boboto kayo, boboto tayong lahat (So again, let’s all do this together—this is a call: I will vote, you will vote, we will all vote).”