COMELEC Clears Alleged ‘dagdag-bawas’ Claims

With social media buzzing over alleged vote tampering in the 2025 senatorial elections, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) has stepped up to explain what really happened, and why people shouldn’t jump to conclusions.

COMELEC Chairman George Garcia spoke at a press conference to address a viral post claiming there was a sudden loss of 5 million votes for a senatorial candidate. He clarified that the issue stemmed not from any tampering but from how some groups were handling raw election data.

According to Garcia, certain media outlets published results before properly processing the data from the COMELEC server. Only two media organizations actually have the right software to clean or filter the raw information, ensuring it's accurate before it goes public. The rest simply pull unprocessed data, which can lead to confusion or duplicate numbers.

He stressed that COMELEC does not generate ranked results or tally votes for public display. “We’re not allowed to create totals or rankings,” he said. “Only official, finalized results are released by us.”

What people were seeing online, he said, was likely due to double-counting or improperly processed figures. It wasn’t a case of "dagdag-bawas" (vote padding or shaving), but more of a technical hiccup.

Garcia also made it clear that the commission operates with full transparency. No cheating, no vote switching, and no behind-the-scenes manipulation. Just a matter of some media outlets rushing to publish without proper verification.

Meanwhile, the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC) resumed its session and received 30 Certificates of Canvass (COCs), including results from absentee voting, Ifugao, and Baguio City. More COCs are expected to be processed by the end of the day.

The message from COMELEC is simple: let the system work, trust the official process, and don’t believe everything you see online without context.

(via Remate Online)