THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday said it has received all local Certificates of Canvass (CoCs) for the senatorial and party-list races as the midterm polls near conclusion.
In a message to reporters via Viber, Comelec spokesman John Rex C. Laudiangco said that while all domestic CoCs have been accounted for, the poll body is still awaiting the transmission of seven more overseas CoCs.
These remaining documents are from Philippine posts in Portugal, Pakistan, Egypt, Iran, Russia, South Africa, and Poland.
Once these are transmitted and canvassed, the vote tallying for the senatorial and party-list contests will be complete.
The last local CoCs it received were from special geographic areas (SGAs) or the 63 villages in the province of Cotabato in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
According to initial and unofficial figures from the Comelec, voter turnout for the 2025 midterm polls reached an estimated 81.65%, as of 2:30 p.m. on May 15.
This translates to approximately 55.88 million voters participating out of the 68.43 million registered voters nationwide.
This is in comparison to the 84.20% turnout recorded in the 2022 presidential elections, where over 55.43 million voters out of 65.83 million registered cast their votes.
Comelec is targeting to complete the canvassing of all CoCs by Thursday evening. Once completed, the poll body plans to proclaim the winners.
Barring any delays, the commission aims to officially proclaim the twelve newly elected senators and the party-list representatives by Sunday, a timeline it touted as the earliest proclamation of national candidates in Philippine election history.
Comelec earlier noted that improved transmission systems, streamlined procedures, and increased coordination with electoral boards and field personnel contributed to the faster processing of results this year.
The 2025 midterm elections were widely seen as a referendum on the current administration’s performance, with key legislative seats at stake.
Aside from the 12 Senate seats, over 60 party-list groups are vying for representation in the House of Representatives. — Chloe Mari A. Hufana
