A video circulating on Facebook claims that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) purposely printed the wrong ballot numbers of PDP-Laban senatorial bets Victor Rodriguez, Apollo Quiboloy, and Phillip Salvador. This is false.
Uploaded on April 19, the video shows a sample ballot allegedly from Comelec listing Rodriguez as number 55, Quiboloy as 52, and Salvador as 57. The clip compares this to the campaign posters of the candidates where Rodriguez is number 56, Quiboloy is 53, and Salvador, 58.
It also carries an overlaid text and caption that reads:
“Bakit kaya kampante na sila na sabihing 12-0 daw? Magkaiba ang numero ng tatlong kandidato ng PDP sa balota.
“Pakishare para aware din yung iba”
(“Why are they so confident in claiming a 12-0 sweep? The ballot numbers of the three PDP candidates are different.”
“Please share so others are aware too“)
There was no error in printing the candidates’ numbers on the ballots.
The sample ballot shown in the misleading video is the old ballot face released by Comelec last January.
However, the Comelec suspended the printing of this version following a Supreme Court (SC) ruling to add the name of one senatorial candidate to the ballot.
On Jan. 14, the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order in favor of Subair Guinthum Mustapha, who was previously tagged by the poll body as a nuisance candidate. This decision prompted the Comelec to reprint the ballots and adjust the numbering to include Mustapha in the official list. As a result, the ballot numbers of Rodriguez, Quiboloy, and Salvador each moved one spot higher.
The updated 2025 ballot template, available on the Comelec website, correctly reflects the numbers used by the PDP-Laban candidates on their official campaign posters.
The misleading video surfaced just over three weeks before the 2025 midterm elections. It garnered 1 million views, 5,500 reactions, 3,600 shares, and 1,800 comments as of writing.
