Comelec's Garcia vows not to let problems in past elections happen in 2025

Commission on Election (Comelec) Commissioner George Garcia on Tuesday said he will not let the same issues that occurred in the previous elections happen in the 2025 midterm polls.

Interviewed on Dobol B TV, Garcia said among the biggest problems encountered in the 2022 elections were the long lines of voters in polling precincts and the number of malfunctioning vote counting machines (VCMs).

“Sa 2025, anuman ang naranasan natin ng mga nakaraan, dapat hindi na muling mararanasan ito,” he said.

“Kung papalarin tayo na nandiyan pa tayo sa Commission on Elections siyempre hindi tayo papayag na may ganitong klaseng aberya,” he added.

(Whatever we experienced in the past elections should never be experienced again in 2025. If we are lucky that we are still in the Comelec by that time, of course we will not allow these kinds of problems to happen again.)

Garcia earlier said more than 1,800 VCMs malfunctioned during the May 9 polls.

“Alam niyo po kasi sa nagke-create ‘yan ng mga duda sa integridad ng proseso. Pero siyempre po, pinapaliwanag namin, wala naman pong may gusto talaga ng mga ganong problema,” he said, citing the other problems that came about in the 2016 and 2019 elections.

(These problems create doubts about the integrity of the electoral process. But of course, as we explain, no one really wants such problems to happen.)  —KBK, GMA News