Comelec to submit comment to SC on petition vs. overseas voting

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Thursday it will comply with the Supreme Court (SC) decision ordering it to comment on a motion seeking to intervene in a pending petition challenging the online overseas voting process.

"Definitely [we will comply]," Comelec Chairperson George Erwin Garcia told reporters.

"Wala pa po kaming natatanggap na kahit ano pong resolution, so hindi pa po namin alam kung talagang official ba na may ganoong lumabas mula sa ating kataas-taasang hukuman," he added.

(We have yet to receive any resolution, so we are not sure if there is an official resolution released from the Supreme Court.)

The motion to intervene was filed by the National People's Initiative Council Committee and God's People's Initiative in connection with a petition filed by PDP-Laban in June 2025.

The intervenors asked the SC to issue a writ of preliminary mandatory injunction directing the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee (JCOC) to convene and issue a certification approving or disapproving the engagement of the Miru system for the national and local elections.

The MIRU system refers to a proposed or contracted election technology platform used for managing and processing online or automated voting for national and local elections in the Philippines.

Further, the intervenors also sought to direct the JCOC to investigate SMS Global and Sequent Tech Inc. over alleged violations of the rights of overseas Filipino workers (OFW) voters, particularly on compliance with mandatory voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) requirements.

The resolution dated April 15 ordered Comelec and the Department of Foreign Affairs to submit their comments within 10 days from notice.

Meanwhile, Garcia said the Comelec is improving the online voting system since it helped Filipinos abroad to cast their votes without going to their respective Philippine embassies.

He added that under the law, the Comelec is allowed to look for other modes of voting, as long as it reports them to Congress.

To recall, PDP-Laban in June 2025 asked the SC to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the implementation of remote online voting using digital ballots for overseas voters.

It asked the SC to direct the Comelec to issue a corrective resolution on provisions of the Election Automation Law and to require mandatory training for the implementation of parallel manual counting of votes alongside automated counting machines (ACMs). — VDV, GMA News