Comelec Chair George Garcia shows a sample of the electronic ballot during the Local Source Code Review of the Automated Election Systems (AES) at the Circuit Corporation One building in Makati city on October 11, 2024. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File

MANILA — Commission on Elections chairman George Garcia said no nuisance candidates will end up on ballots for the 2025 midterm elections as the commission works to resolve cases before printing starts.

The Comelec in November declared 117 aspirants for senator as nuisance candidates, or those deemed to be trying to run to mock the polls or cause confusion among voters.

Comelec declares 117 senatorial bets nuisance candidates

"It is the first time in the history of Comelec na mapagmamalaki ko na walang nuisance candidate na masasama sa balota. Hindi katulad ng nangyayari dati na tapos na ang halalan nandoon pa ang nuisance candidate… pati sa local sinigurado natin," Garcia said.

(It is the first time that there will be no nuisance candidates on the ballot. We made sure to remove them, even for local elections)

The Comelec earlier said the list of 66 senatorial candidates it released last month is final but that there will be 155 party-list groups on the ballot after one group decided to no longer participate.

MOA WITH NATIONAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Garcia and National Bureau of Investigation director Jaime Santiago have signed a memorandum of agreement to keep the polls peaceful and orderly.

Santiago urged the public to report instances of vote-buying, saying the bureau has a plan to address issues like vote-buying.

“Kapag merong isang bahay na nagpupuntahan doon ang tao at nagdi-distribute, we will monitor. Mga sasakyan na nagdi-distribute sa bara-barangay, we will monitor that and diyan namin kailangan na kailangan ang tulong ng mamamayan natin, i-report sa amin yun, kami na ang bahala,” Santiago said.

(If there is a house or if there are vehicles used to distribute money, we will monitor those. And that is where we need citizens' help. They should report that to us and we will take action)

Garcia said the Comelec also previously partnered with e-wallet firms to address potential vote-buying.

“Nag-issue rin sila (e-wallets) ng guidelines sa sarili nila na hindi sila tatanggap ng pagpapadala ng isang tao sa napakadaming tao,” Garcia said.

(They issued guidelines that they would not accept transactions where one person will send money to so many people)

Inter-faith group calls for prayers vs vote buying in 2025 elections

MODUS

Garcia also urged politicians not to believe unscrupulous individuals claiming they can manipulate election results.

He said politicians being approached by scammers should report these offers and have them arrested.

He said two national candidates, four party-list groups and several local candidates have reported receiving offers.

Garcia said he will send the NBI photos of those behind the offer.