Philippine midterm elections 2025: Peaceful despite minor glitches says COMELEC

Commission on Elections Chairperson George Garcia engages the press at the Comelec head office Credit: PNA photo by Joyce Ann L. Rocamora

One day after the 2025 midterm elections in the Philippines, the partial and unofficial count of votes for senators and party-list groups continues. While the Commission on Elections insists the process was orderly, several issues including violence, technical failures, and vote-buying cast a shadow over the electoral exercise.

Leading the senatorial race in the partial count are Christopher “Bong” Go, Bam Aquino, Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, Erwin Tulfo, and Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan. In the party-list vote, the top five groups include Akbayan, Duterte Youth, Tingog, 4Ps, and ACT-CIS.
COMELEC reported that 311 vote-counting machines had to be replaced due to minor reading errors. There were also complaints involving poll watchers shading ballots, although no voter was officially disenfranchised.
On the security front, the Philippine National Police (PNP) reported 4 deaths and 12 injuries related to election violence. Still, COMELEC noted that only 34 areas were placed under red alert, making this the most peaceful election in the last three national cycles.
In terms of vote-buying, 28 incidents were recorded involving 68 individuals, with 19 arrests made by authorities.

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