Comelec holds election summit

CEBU, Philippines —  The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is set to hold its first-ever National Election Summit today in Pasay City after its postponement last January.

There are around 400 attendees expected at the summit including some representatives from Cebu and Central Visayas.

In a press statement, the summit which carries the theme “Pagtutulungan sa Makabagong Halalan" will be a three-day event with the aim of discussing” notable key issues encountered every election and provide meaningful and sustainable reforms to map out strategies towards free, orderly, honest, and credible Philippine elections.”

Since November 2022, numerous pre-summit consultation sessions were already done nationwide in form of focus group discussions between the Comelec, civil society organizations, poll watch dogs, people's organizations, experts, the academe, and Filipino voters to come up with the top six topics beginning today.

Topics to be discussed include voter registration; voting, counting, and canvassing processes; campaign finance and fair elections; filing of the certificate of candidacy, party-list accreditation, and adjudication of cases; teachers as members of the electoral boards; and the integration of voter education in the K-12 curriculum tertiary education, and National Service Training Program(NSTP).

Breakout sessions will also be done throughout the three-day span of the National Election Summit.

Meanwhile, Comelec also reiterated the series of activities leading toward the 2023 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) starting with the filing of the certificate of candidacy from July 3 to 7.

The filing of COC also signals the start of the election period from July 3 to and November 4 in which a gun ban is also imposed.

The campaign period, on the other hand, is set from October 19 to 28, and campaigning from July 8 to October 18 is still prohibited.

Election Day will be on October 30 from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. after which the counting and canvassing of votes as well as the proclamation of winning candidates takes place.

After elections, candidates are given until November 29 to file their Statements of Contributions and Expenditures.

Meanwhile, Comelec continues its printing of official ballots and accountable forms to be used for the BSKE at the National Printing Office in Quezon City. — GMR (FREEMAN)