MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) marked its 86th anniversary on Saturday as it prepared for the first regular parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) on Sept. 14.
Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said that the commission had already printed more than 2.3 million ballots for the elections, which have been postponed more than once.
“Far more than a technical exercise, this is the Commission's contribution to the peace process and to the establishment of genuine democratic governance in the Bangsamoro Region,” Garcia said in his anniversary message.
The BARMM parliamentary elections will be followed by the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections on Nov. 2, 2026.
Garcia also cited the first implementation of internet voting for overseas Filipinos during the May 12, 2025 national and local elections.
The system was available in 77 posts around the world for 30 days, he said.
More than 99 percent of election returns were also transmitted to Comelec servers during the 2025 elections, with results made available to the public within hours after the closing of precincts, according to Garcia.
“For eighty-six years, the Commission on Elections has stood as the guardian of the Filipino vote,” Garcia said.
Comelec traces its establishment to Commonwealth Act No. 607, which was approved on Aug. 22, 1940.
