Comelec agrees to lower 'ballot shading threshold' to 15 percent | ABS-CBN

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Comelec agrees to lower 'ballot shading threshold' to 15 percent

Comelec agrees to lower 'ballot shading threshold' to 15 percent

Willard Cheng,

ABS-CBN News

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MANILA - The Commission on Elections en banc approved the proposal of the poll body’s project management office to lower the ballot shading threshold to 15 percent in the 2025 national and local elections.

Comelec chairman George Garcia said lowering the threshold from 25 percent to 15 percent will allow the automated counting machine to read as valid vote marks that cover at least 15 percent of the circle beside a candidate’s name on the ballot.

He added a 15 percent shading threhold is enough to measure “the real intention of the voter.”

“‘Yung mga ibang kababayan natin, huwag matakot na kung halimbawa naisip nila bakit parang tuldok lang yung nailagay ko sa pagboto, mabibilang po yan so long nga it is more or less 15% of the kabuuan ng bilog na kanila po i-accomplish,” Garcia told reporters.

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Still, Garcia urged voters to properly shade ballots.

“Pero sana po, ang pakiusap natin i-accomplish naman po ng mga kababayan natin yung kabuuan ng bilog na andun yung katabi yung pangalan, numero at pangalan ng mismong kandidato o party list. Sapagkat napakaliit naman po ng bilog, madali naman po i-accomplish sapagkat yung ating pen na ginagamit, ay kumakalat naman po yan… Kahit po sumobra, babasahin po 'yun ng makina,” Garcia said.

The Comelec implemented the lowest threshold to date in 2010 at 20 percent. It implemented a 25 percent threshold in the last 2022 elections.



COMELEC ACCEPTS MIRU'S FINANCIAL CONTRACTING CAPACITY

Meanwhile, the Comelec en banc also accepted the Net Financial Contracting Capacity (NFCC) submitted by Miru Systems Inc. and its remaining partners following the withdrawal of St. Timothy Construction Corporation (STCC) from the joint venture. 

Garcia said the en banc has accepted the recommendation of its law department finding the NFCC as sufficient and in order.

“The NFCC as verified and recomputed by the Law Department amounts to PHP19,253,817,256.42 which is more (than) the FASTraC project's Contract Price of Php 17,988,878,226.55. The Law Department finds the NFCC submitted by the provider sufficient and in order,” read the memo of the Comelec’s project management office on the matter.

Gusto ko rin po i-confirm that the Commission and Bank accepted the recommendation of the Law Department, confirming, taking note, and accepting yung pong NFCC, Net Financial Contracting Capacity na sinabmit nung natitirang dalawang joint venture partners ay sufficient and in compliance doon sa requirement po natin. And therefore, pinapainform namin yung mismo MIRU and the two remaining joint venture partners of this decision of the Commission to accept the recommendation of the Law Department,” Garcia said.

REPAIR HUBS FOR ACMS

The Comelec en banc also approved the list of the proposed location and venue of Technical Hubs in connection with the May 12, 2025 National and Local Elections which Garcia said will also be published.

Garcia said this will be the first time that every province will have a repair hub for the ACMs.

The poll body expects the manufacturing of the ACMs to be completed and delivered within November from Korea to the Philippines.

“Ang dapat nakalagay sa kontrata talaga ay last week ng December. Pero ang recent na balita na sa atin is second week of November na andito na. Sapagkat kung tapos na ang lahat ng mga makina, yung kabuuan ng 110,000 out of ngayon kasi halos 80,000 na, mahigit yung ating natanggap. So, konting-konti na lang yung imamanufacture. Kung matatapos yan bukas, darating siya exact yung second week kasi i-ship from Korea papunta sa Pilipinas. And pag nangyari yun, kumpleto na yung aming lahat ng mga makina, so dire-diretso na lang yung testing na gagawin natin,” Garcia said. 



END-TO-END TESTING

He also reported the success of the conduct of the end-to-end testing of the automated election system or the Full Automation System with Transparency Audit/Count (FASTrAC) and Online Voting and Counting System (OVCS), including the transmission of results.

Garcia said adjustments will be made including on the kind of paper to be used so the machine will not reject ballots.

ELECTION VIOLENCE

The Comelec also joined the Commission on Human Rights in condemning “the recent surge of violence targeting election candidates and officials in various parts of the country.”

Garcia also called for the end of private armed groups as he expressed support for the order of the DILG to crack down on private armies.

“We strongly condemn all of these acts of violence. Hindi po dapat, dapat po pinapakiusap natin sa ating law enforcement ating authorities, dapat para magtiwala ang sambayanan kaagad na maaresto 'yan pong mga culprit o yung may kadahilanan o may kagagawan ng bagay na yan madami na po kami mga kasamahan na nagsakripisyo ng buhay dahil lang sa maling paniniwala na may kinakampihan yung mismo mga tauhan namin and therefore kami rin mismo ay nanghihini ng katarungan doon sa pagkamatay ng ilan naming mga tauhan…  At sana sa mga darating na halalan, sana po mapigilan ang mga bagay na yan,” Garcia said.

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Hamas to free 6 Israeli Gaza hostages, hand over 4 bodies this week

Hamas to free 6 Israeli Gaza hostages, hand over 4 bodies this week

Agence France-Presse,

Alice Chancellor

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Palestinian militant group Hamas fighters secure an area before handing over two Israeli hostages to a Red Cross team in Khan Yunis on February 1, 2025, as part of fourth hostage-prisoner exchange. Eyad Baba, AFP/FilePalestinian militant group Hamas fighters secure an area before handing over two Israeli hostages to a Red Cross team in Khan Yunis on February 1, 2025, as part of fourth hostage-prisoner exchange. Eyad Baba, AFP/File

JERUSALEM -- Hamas said Tuesday that it would hand over all six living Israeli hostages due for release under the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire this week, as well as the bodies of four dead captives.

The fragile Gaza truce took effect on January 19 after more than 15 months of fighting between Israel and Hamas, sparked by the Palestinian militant group's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

Thirty-three Israeli hostages were due to be released under the first phase, with 19 freed so far in exchange for more than 1,100 Palestinian prisoners. Of the remaining 14, Israel says eight are dead.

Five Thai nationals held in Gaza since the 2023 attack have also been released outside the scope of the truce deal.

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Hamas "decided to release on Saturday, February 22, the remaining living (Israeli) prisoners whose release was agreed in the first phase, numbering six", the group's top negotiator Khalil al-Hayya said in a televised address.

The group had also "decided to hand over four bodies on Thursday... and the enemy will release the corresponding prisoners", Hayya said.

Israel subsequently confirmed the arrangements, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office saying that during indirect negotiations in Cairo, "agreements were reached" for the six living hostages to be released on Saturday.

It added that the bodies of four hostages would be returned on Thursday, ahead of four others next week.

These would be the first bodies returned by Hamas to Israel since the start of the war.

A Palestinian source close to the negotiations said mediators had presented the request for the new releases, adding they aimed "for this step to create a positive atmosphere, insisting on the continuation of the ceasefire".

The first phase of the truce is due to expire on March 1, and negotiations on the next stages, including a permanent end to the war, have not yet begun.

The truce deal has so far held despite both sides trading accusations of violations, and despite the strain placed on it by US President Donald Trump's widely condemned plan to take control of Gaza and relocate its population.

- Arab summits -

Saudi Arabia is set to host the leaders of Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates on Friday to present their own plan for Gaza's reconstruction while ensuring that Palestinians remain on their land.

Egypt and Jordan have been floated by Trump as possible destinations for displaced Gazans, though both countries have rejected the idea.

After the Saudi meeting, Egypt will host an extraordinary Arab League meeting on Gaza, with participants expected to address Trump's plan.

Though initially set for next week, the summit has been postponed to March 4, Egypt said Tuesday.

For Palestinians, any forced displacement evokes memories of the "Nakba", or catastrophe -- the mass displacement of their ancestors during Israel's creation in 1948.

On Monday, Egypt hosted the latest meeting of the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, which initially gathered in Saudi Arabia last year.

Egypt's foreign ministry stressed Cairo's "full commitment to implementing the two-state solution" to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and "the necessity of establishing an independent Palestinian state".

- 'Demilitarization' -

Israel, meanwhile, demanded on Tuesday the "complete demilitarization of Gaza", with Foreign Minister Gideon Saar saying it would "not accept the continued presence of Hamas or any other terrorist groups" in the Palestinian territory.

Saar also said Israel would begin negotiations "this week" on the second phase of the truce, which aims to lay out a more permanent end to the war.

A Hamas official and another source familiar with the talks have earlier said negotiations on a second phase could begin this week in Doha.

Qatar, a key mediator in the Gaza conflict, said on Tuesday that Palestinians must decide the territory's post-war future.

"From our perspective, this is a Palestinian question on what happens post this conflict," said Ansari when asked about Israel's stated objective to eliminate Hamas.

"It is a Palestinian question on who represents the Palestinians in an official capacity and also the political groups and parties in the political sphere," he said.

Ansari also said that humanitarian aid into Gaza "today is insufficient".

Hamas's 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,211 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 48,291 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory that the United Nations considers reliable.

© Agence France-Presse

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