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THE Commission on Elections website, as of March 7, lists the advertising contracts of 15 candidates for national positions. Hover your mouse over the bars to see the amounts these candidates have spent.

By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL ACTIVATION of the on-screen verification (OSV) feature of vote-counting machines (VCMs) does not guarantee a fraud-free elections, a poll watchdog said Monday. Vote buying and the use of military and paramilitary forces to coerce voters on election day are still possible even with safeguard features in the automated election system, Kontra

By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL A boxing fight is not a political advertisement. This is what Sarangani representative and boxing champ Manny Pacquiao told the Commission on Elections Monday to defend  the airing of his upcoming match with American boxer Timothy Bradley on Philippine television. Pacquiao, through his lawyers Antonio Carlos Bautista and Romulo Macalintal, said the April

COMPARE the results of the Social Weather Stations and Pulse Asia surveys on the presidential, vice presidential and senatorial races. Click to view this infographic in FULL PAGE.  (updated May) Hover your mouse over a name to see the percentages of votes.

By JAKE SORIANO OF the 54 million Filipinos registered to vote in the upcoming presidential elections, 318,013 have disabilities. The interactive map below shows the 10 provinces in the Philippines with the most number of registered voters with disabilities.

STATEMENT: On separate occasions, candidates Mar Roxas and Chiz Escudero accused each other of not doing enough for their respective home provinces. Vice presidential bet Escudero, campaigning in Roxas City on Feb. 17, said Roxas could have done more for Capiz after years in public office. Among others, Escudero said the poverty gap in Capiz is “so

By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL THE Commission on Elections has tripled the number of random manual audit (RMA) precincts compared to previous elections to boost public confidence on the accuracy of results, Commissioner Luie Tito Guia said Tuesday. From 234 precincts in 2013, a total of 715 precincts will be employed for the RMA this May,

EVEN if the high court decides that independent bet Sen. Grace Poe is disqualified from running for president, her name will stay on the official ballot for the 2016 polls, Commission on Elections Chair Andres Bautista said Tuesday. With nearly 10.5 million or one-fourth of the total number of ballots printed, Bautista said the poll

STATEMENT: During the first Comelec-sponsored PiliPinas Debates 2016 on Feb. 21, independent presidential candidate Sen. Grace Poe said,: “Kailangan na po ng replanting ng mga niyog. Sapagka’t tayo po ang fifth largest producer ng niyog sa buong mundo, pero hindi natin sila binibigyan ng sapat na suporta (We need to replant coconut trees. We are

By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL IF it violates certain provisions of the fair elections law, the Commission on Elections may consider banning broadcast networks from airing the upcoming boxing match of senatorial aspirant Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao. Comelec Chair Andres Bautista said in a press conference Tuesday it is possible to do so since the poll

By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL A broad range of national issues, ranging from poverty to illegal drugs and political dynasties, was tackled in the first leg of presidential debates last Sunday. For one electoral reform advocate, though, it would have made sense if the candidates covered issues closer to home. Pressing concerns in Mindanao could have

By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL IT is possible, but highly unlikely to rig the 2016 elections and use it to favor a certain candidate, given the security features of the automated election system (AES), says an information technology expert. Only when there is “insider cheating” or conspiracy among those controlling the system can electoral fraud take

By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL AFTER a series of delays, the Commission on Elections has finally started printing nearly 57 million official ballots for the 2016 polls. Comelec Chair Andres Bautista led observers, poll watchdogs and members of the media in a walkthrough today at the National Printing Office, the government agency in charge of the

Instruction: Hover the mouse over the placemark to see the barangay and district. You can zoom into to each point.

By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL THE printing of official ballots for the 2016 presidential polls has been postponed anew, this time due to software issues, but this will not affect the timeline for the elections, the Commission on Elections said. The ballots were scheduled to be printed on February 8, but an incompatibility between the Election

By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL DAY One of the official campaign season and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) gave candidates its last warning to remove illegally posted campaign materials within three days. Beyond that, the poll body said on Tuesday it will start issuing notices and citations to candidates and parties to take them down. Comelec

[metaslider id=33666] Text and photos by MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL WHAT are the features of an accessible polling place (APP) for voters with disabilities? The Commission on Elections on Saturday set up the Pura V. Kalaw Elementary School in Cubao, Quezon City as a mockup accessible precinct to show how an APP for the 2016 presidential elections

By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL A week before official campaign period kicks off, the Commission on Elections has warned candidates to comply with rules on posting campaign materials – else be shamed in public and be sanctioned for committing an election offense. The Comelec signed on Tuesday an agreement with the Department of Public Works and

By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL WHOM should you vote for this coming election? Amid the plethora of surveys and political ads before the official campaign period, a nationwide group of electoral reform advocates has called on voters to choose candidates based on their stand on issues and the qualities they possess. Prompted by what it described

  By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS OF the eight presidential candidates that the Commission on Elections approved to be listed in the ballots for the May 9, 2016 elections, two are facing disqualification cases: Grace Poe and Rodrigo Duterte. The eight names that Comelec said would be in the ballots are:  Jojo Binay of the United

By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL THE clamor to include “None of the above” as one of the options in the official ballot for the 2016 polls may sound hilarious, but it only expresses the blatant frustration of the voting populace, a lawyer said on Thursday. “It’s like another way of saying, ‘Wala na bang iba’ (isn’t

  By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS THE “Eliminate Grace Poe” from the presidential race crusade has benefitted Vice President Jejomar Binay who has regained the lead in the latest survey of candidates for president in the 2016 elections by the Social Weather Stations. Liberal Party standard bearer Mar Roxas, whose allies in the Commission on Election

By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL CANDIDATES for the presidency and vice presidency will not be compelled to attend the nationwide debates the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is organizing starting next month, but the poll body says non-attendance is a message in itself. The debates will not only reveal how candidates fare in their specific fields, but

By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) is proposing stricter measures on the posting and airing of political advertisements as well as the tracking of its donors as part of the efforts to make the 2016 elections transparent and fair. Candidates in the May 9 elections may be required to submit a written

By VERLIE Q. RETULIN MALL voting may provide ease and convenience to persons with disabilities (PWDs) and senior citizens, but it is not the proper solution to address accessibility problems, Commission on Elections (Comelec) chair Andres Bautista said on Monday. During the second public hearing on the transfer of certain polling precincts to malls, Bautista