Ballots with alleged missing candidate's name must be returned —Philippine Embassy in Wellington

The Philippine Embassy in New Zealand called on Filipinos claiming to have received ballots without the name of one presidential candidate to immediately return it to the diplomatic post for verification.

A Filipino from New Zealand earlier claimed to have received a ballot wherein Vice President Leni Robredo's name was omitted from the list of candidates. A photo of the ballot circulated on social media over the weekend.

"Anyone who claims they have received a ballot with an erasure/non-appearance of any of the entries is requested to return the entire ballot package to the embassy so that we can verify the claim. The embassy is coordinating with the COMELEC accordingly," an embassy statement said.

Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner George Garcia on Sunday branded the claim as "fake news," saying the poll body's 2022 ballots are serialized and were printed using a single template.

Overseas voting for the 2022 polls began on April 10 and will end on May 9, Election Day in the Philippines.

The Philippine Embassy in Wellington said it is "committed to upholding the integrity of the national elections as we stand by our oath as career civil servants to uphold the values of patriotism, integrity, professionalism, excellence." —Michaela del Callar/KG, GMA News