Registration begins for political, party-list groups

MANILA, Philippines — This early, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has started accepting applications for registration of political and party-list groups intending to participate in the May 2025 elections.

“Please be informed that the clerk of the Commission on Elections has started receiving verified petitions for registration as a political party or a coalition of political parties or a national, regional or sectoral party-list group,” the Comelec announced in an advisory.

It said petitions for registration may be filed from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Mondays to Fridays, excluding holidays.

Interested groups may get additional information from the Comelec’s Office of the Clerk through telephone numbers 02-85273002 or 02-85272770, through email at [email protected], or through the official Comelec website, www.comelec.gov.ph.

Under the Omnibus Election Code, a political party is required to be duly registered with the Comelec to acquire a juridical personality, qualify for subsequent accreditation and to enjoy the rights and privileges of a political party.

Under the Party-List System Act, any organized group of persons may register as a party-list group by filing with the Comelec a petition verified by its president or secretary stating its desire to participate in the party-list system.

91.5 M ballots for b’gay, SK polls

Meanwhile, over 91 million ballots are needed for the coming barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE), according to the Comelec.

Acting Comelec spokesman John Rex Laudiangco yesterday revealed that the National Printing Office will print a total of 91,518,948 official ballots for the Dec. 5 polls.

“All in all, printing of the ballots will reach 91,518,958 – that’s the enormity of our preparations for the Dec. 5 BSKE,” Laudiangco said in Filipino in a radio interview.

“That’s even more than the number of ballots in the May 9 elections, because for SK voters, the 18-30 age group, two ballots will be accepted: for the regular barangay election and then the SK election. Thus, it will reach 91.5 million,” he added.

The total number of ballots to be printed includes 67,061,585 ballots for barangay voters and another 24,457,363 ballots for SK voters, according to the Comelec official.

He said the Comelec intends to start printing ballots by mid-September, given the high number to be printed.

Aside from printing, the Comelec also needs to provide time for the verification and deployment of the official ballots.

“Factoring all these, the printing, the verification, the deployment, we need to begin by mid-September,” Laudiangco said.