2025 special polls, plebiscites suspended

MANILA, Philippines —  To focus all resources on the conduct of the May 2025 midterm elections, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has suspended all special polls and plebiscites until next year.

In a resolution, the commission ordered the suspension of the Sangguniang Kabataan Special Elections (SKSE) “until further notice.”

It also suspended the conduct of all plebiscites effective September 2024 and scheduled the electoral exercises within four months from the end of election period for the December 2025 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE).

After deliberation, the Comelec decided to suspend the special polls and plebiscites “so as not to derail the preparations for the May 2025 (elections) and the first Bangsamoro parliamentary election as well as the BSKE.”

Last June, the Comelec issued guidelines for the conduct of SKSE in barangays, where the number of SK officials elected is less than the required quorum or where no SK official has been elected at all after nobody filed the necessary certificate of candidacy during the BSKE 2023.

The commission previously scheduled plebiscites in Maguindanao del Norte; Presentacion, Camarines Sur; Cauayan, Negros Occidental and Parañaque City.

The commission described the year 2025 as “super election year” since three elections are set to be held.

According to Comelec, with the suspension of the special polls and plebiscites, the poll body can concentrate on the creation of digital ballots, configuration of ballot faces and machines and conduct of tests for the Full Automation System with Transparency Audit/Count (FASTrAC) and Online Voting and Counting System (OVCS).

The poll body will also focus on procurement of goods, supplies and equipment; conduct of continuing local and overseas voter’s registration; systems customization for FASTrAC and OVCS; delivery and acceptance testing of equipment and consumables; printing of accountable and non-accountable forms and delivery of machines and hardware acceptance test.

Regulate AI

Comelec Chairman George Garcia explained to the Senate the poll body’s guidelines on the use of artificial intelligence (AI), which it seeks to regulate instead of prohibit ahead of the 2025 elections.

During the Comelec’s budget deliberations at the Senate yesterday, Garcia said Comelec Resolution 11064 seeks to regulate campaigning through AI and social media to curb the spread of misinformation.

“We have campaign regulation for radio, television and newspaper, but none yet for the use of social media and AI. We will not absolutely prohibit the use of AI as long as it is used properly,” Garcia said.

Instead of totally banning AI, the Comelec would coordinate with internet platforms such as Google and X “so that they will be the ones to police their own ranks.”

“We would like to prevent misinformation, disinformation and fake news. Using the guidelines, we’re hoping that we can easily on the same day request the platforms to remove the malicious information or fake news,” Garcia said.

The Comelec would also require candidates to register before the poll body all their “official social media accounts and pages, websites, podcasts, blogs, vlogs and other online and internet-based campaign platforms.”

“We will be punishing those who will be guilty or proven to have committed misinformation, disinformation and fake news,” Garcia said, warning fake news peddlers during the campaign of election offense.

“This is a work in progress. This is our first time in our history that we will have this kind of guidelines for the use of AI, deepfakes and such other platforms,” he added.

Under Comelec’s guidelines, candidates and parties are required to include a watermark disclosing the use of AI in the campaign material.

The Comelec expressly prohibits deepfakes, “coordinated inauthentic behavior” on social media and “false amplifiers” such as bots and fake accounts. – Marc Jayson Cayabyab