THE voting and counting of the plebiscite in Parañaque City’s five barangay (villages) are done manually, with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) monitoring the process until the announcement of results.
Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said that the commission is ensuring election materials, personnel and procedures are in order as the plebiscite moves from voting to manual counting at the Parañaque Coliseum.
Polling places for the plebiscite include Tambo Elementary School, Parañaque Elementary School, Parañaque City Jail for persons deprived of liberty, SM City Sucat and Parañaque National High School, according to Comelec.
The plebiscite involves approximately 80,000 registered voters and differs from regular elections as it does not use automated election technology.
Garcia said that the process follows the rules for manual elections, similar to Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan polls, where voting, counting and proclamation are done manually.
“The plebiscite here in Parañaque is being conducted manually and is not automated. Voters will write their choices by hand, the ballots will be counted manually, and the proclamation of the results will also be done manually later on,” Comelec’s Garcia said.
He said automated election rules under Republic Act 9369 do not apply to the plebiscite because it is being conducted as a manual election.
Garcia clarified that the side that gets the highest number of votes will be declared the winner. It does not need to secure more than half of the total votes cast.
He said senior citizens, persons with disabilities and pregnant voters were prioritized during the early voting period, which started at 5 a.m.
Dasmariñas special election on track
The Comelec chief also said that preparations are under way for the special election in Dasmariñas, Cavite, where five candidates are vying for a congressional seat vacated by Francisco “Kiko” Barzaga.
He said the election body expects a large deployment of personnel in the city, which has nearly 497,387 registered voters. The special election may extend until early morning during the counting and proclamation process.
Garcia thanked the Dasmariñas City government for providing a P50-million donation to help fund the special election, which he said requires about P198 million in expenses.
He added that Comelec has reused available election supplies from the 2025 polls, including indelible ink and other materials, to help cover funding gaps.
BARMM polls security
On election-related security concerns, Garcia said recent incidents in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) and North Cotabato were not connected to the ongoing elections.
The reported grenade attack in BARMM was unrelated to the polls and was believed to be linked to retaliation involving a group whose leader was recently neutralized, he said.
Garcia also said the killing of a councilor in North Cotabato was being treated as a personal matter and not election-related. The Philippine National Police has launched a hot pursuit operation against those responsible.
“So far, we have not recorded any election-related violence in the Bangsamoro region,” Garcia said.