The International Observer Mission (IOM) has supported calls for a hybrid election system in the Philippines as it found the Eleksyon 2025 to be “neither free, nor open, honest, nor fair.”
“The IOM is calling for the adoption of a hybrid election system that combines manual counting at the precinct level with the automated electronic transmission of results,” said International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines Global Council chairperson Peter Murphy.
“This system would replace the fully-automated process and enable an independent and impartial audit and verification of the votes, strengthening public trust in the electoral system,” he added
On Tuesday, the IOM released its full report on the recently-concluded midterm elections, saying it was marred by various issues including rampant vote-buying, voter disenfranchisement, systemic, coordinated and well-funded red-tagging and disinformation against progressive candidates and party-lists.
The IOM also monitored reports of elections-related violence, influence of foreign military and American geopolitical interests, harassment and barring of international observers.
“The 2025 IOM, similar to the findings of the International Observer Mission (IOM) for the 2022 elections, found the massive scale of problems identified in the 2025 elections rendered the elections neither free, nor open, honest, nor fair,” said IOM Commissioner Andrea Mann.
“The pattern of issues in the elections this year speaks to a much larger context of inequality, inequity, facism, foreign influence, and systematic human rights violations against the Filipino people. It is..of utmost urgency for the international community to pay heed to these major issues,” Mann said.
The IOM started the observation of the 2025 midterm polls from late April to mid-May, with more than 50 international human rights advocates participating and 29 field observers deployed. It likewise coordinated with poll watchdogs such as Kontra Daya and Vote Report PH for the elections observation.
Commissioners and volunteers have been deployed in key areas nationwide to observe and document incidents threatening the integrity and safety of the electoral process.
Final report
According to its final report, the mission independently confirmed cases of civil and political rights violations during the May elections including:
- 111 cases of vote-buying
- 63 cases of violation of the right to freedom of association
- 21 cases of violation of the right to liberty of movement
- 14 violations targeting communities
- 51 cases of inaccessibility and disenfranchisement
This included incidents of malfunctioning automated counting machines (ACMs); reports of ballots being wrongly read as overvotes; premarked ballots; and voters unknowingly voting for a different candidate or unable to find their names on the voter roll.
A total of 30 reports of election violence, one enforced disappearance; ten cases of extrajudicial killings, and seven cases of forcible evacuation and displacement were also monitored by the IOM.
The international organization also flagged the low voter turnout of registered Filipino voters abroad, which it attributed to the online registration glitches and delayed pre-enrolment requirements. To resolve this, the IOM called for a simplified registration system for OFWs.
It also proposed sanctions and disqualification against candidates who engaged in vote-buying.
The IOM also recommended to declare the Election Day as a regular paid public holiday.
Comelec
GMA News Online reached out to the Commission on Elections for comment but poll spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco earlier said the commission will comply to new election laws should the existing legislation be amended.
“As to the call for hybrid elections, we submit to the wisdom of Congress in legislating laws amending, if ever and if any, Republic Act No. 8436 as amended by RA9369. As we had fully complied with the full automation requirements of these laws, Comelec equally commits to fully comply with any new law on elections should any be passed by Congress,” Laudiangco said.—AOL, GMA Integrated News
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