Comelec exec: Prove alleged irregularities in Ilocos Norte elections

LAOAG CITY - An official from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday challenged those claiming that there were irregularities in the Eleksyon 2025 to prove their allegations and file appropriate complaints. 

Speaking to reporters, Atty. Joel Gines, Ilocos Norte provincial election supervisor, said there have been reports about alleged preprogrammed machines, which, according to him, turned out to be fake news.

''Kanina ang daming report na it turned out to be puro fake news, hanggang sa ngayon tumahimik naman na 'yung mga reported na fake news na mga tungkol sa mga pagboto, mga makina,'' Gines said. 

(There were a lot of reports that turned out to be fake news, and at present, these reported fake news about the voting process and the machines stopped.) 

''China-challenge ko nga sila eh, in fact sinabi ko na I risk my position, kapag napatunayan niyo 'yan magre-resign ako kasi very competent ako, kasi itong precinct natin is very accurate kasi bukod sa bago, talagang na-testing namin na talagang accurate siya, competent siya at ready na siya ngayon,'' he added. 

(I challenged them, in fact I risked my position that if they proved these, I would resign because I'm very competent, our precinct is very accurate and we had tested this and it's really accurate, competent, and ready.) 

Ilocos Norte has a population of 628,200 based on the 2025 mid-year projection of the Philippine Statistics Authority, data from GMA News Research showed.

It is a 1st class province with 21 municipalities and two cities, including the capital Laoag City, grouped into two legislative districts. There are 559 barangays in the province.

Ilocos Norte has 436,087 registered voters for 2025, the lowest among the four provinces in Region I.—RF, GMA Integrated News

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