EU Election Observation Mission to the Philippines 2025

10/07/2025

The European Union observes elections worldwide.
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European Union Election Observation Missions - EU EOMs

Marta Temido European Union in the Philippines

10/07/2025

The roundtable organized by the EU Election Observation Mission aimed to assess the level of support for recommendations and to explore whether—and how—they could be taken forward. The EU EOM will leave the Philippines but the EU Delegation stays and will support the implementation process.

Find the EU EOM Final Report with recommendations here:
https://www.eeas.europa.eu/EUEOMPhilippines2025-FinalReport_en

Marta Temido European Union in the Philippines

10/07/2025

Here are three recommendations from the Final Report on political parties, campaign finance and candidate registration.

Below, the reasons why the EU EOM proposes them:
- POLITICAL PARTIES: political parties play a largely nominal role in the Philippines, with many lacking clear ideological orientation and generally only serving to facilitate cooperation among vested interests. Candidates’ allegiances often shift even during campaigns, challenging the voters’ ability to make informed choices. The above was true during the 2025 pre-election period. Political power is concentrated in dynastic families, which civil society organisations estimate to have held four out of every five congressional seats in the outgoing convocation, including about two-thirds of party-list seats reserved for underrepresented sectors.
- CAMPAIGN FINANCE: campaign expenditure limits have not been reviewed since they were instituted in 1991. They are widely skirted, with understated reporting. There are no caps on donations. There is no requirement to publish the Statements of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCEs) which candidates submit within 30 days of election day – though the COMELEC plans to do so this year. There is no interim reporting requirement. Also, there is no requirement to use a dedicated bank account for income or expenses.
- CANDIDATE REGISTRATION: eligibility criteria are not in line with international standards committed to by the Philippines. Candidate registration requirements should be amended so as not to unduly limit the right of citizens to seek public office.
(EU EOM Final Report, page 45, 46 and 47)

Please download the Final Report here:
https://www.eeas.europa.eu/EUEOMPhilippines2025-FinalReport_en

Marta Temido European Union in the Philippines

09/07/2025

The EU Election Observation Mission held a roundtable to provide a forum for participants to exchange views on how its recommendations could be implemented. Members of the electoral administration, political parties and lawmakers, civil society, communicators, and electoral specialists were invited to attend. The session was opened by the EU Ambassador to the Philippines, Massimo Santoro.

Marta Temido European Union in the Philippines National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) PPCRV National Union of Journalists of the Philippines Tsek.ph Kontra Daya Karapatan LENTE Philippines De La Salle University Christian Esguerra The Manila Times

08/07/2025

Here are three recommendations from the Final Report on media, social media, and the right to information. Below are the reasons why the EU EOM is proposing them.

- PRESS FREEDOM: Long-standing challenges to journalists’ work, with numerous and regular incidents of intimidation, including “red-tagging”, and impunity persist. As reported by the local Center for Freedom and Media Responsibility, there were 184 reported incidents between July 2022 and April 2025.

- RIGHT TO INFORMATION: Unimpeded access to government-held information is not legally guaranteed. President’s 2016 Executive order Nr.2 on access to information does not have the status of a law and applies only to the executive branch. In addition, many institutions, instead of promptly publishing information of public interest online, have introduced their own bureaucratic procedures for requesting data or documents. This undermines the implementation of the constitutionally guaranteed right to public information, reduces scrutiny of candidates, and impedes voters from making an informed choice.

- SOCIAL MEDIA: Red-tagging is a phenomenon that has been present in the Philippines for decades, with its scope expanding during the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte. Although red-tagging is officially prohibited (as reaffirmed by COMELEC Resolution 11116), it remains a serious issue that often begins online but has real-world repercussions. In 2024, the Supreme Court declared that red-tagging, vilification, labelling, and guilt by association threaten a person’s right to life, liberty, and security.
(EU EOM Final Report, page 48, 49)

Please download the Final Report here:
https://www.eeas.europa.eu/EUEOMPhilippines2025-FinalReport_en

European Union in the Philippines Marta Temido

07/07/2025

In this editorial, The Philippine Star quotes Chief Observer Marta Temido on the presentation of the EU EOM Final Report:

"As even the election observer team deployed by the European Union noted, however, numerous laws related to the conduct of elections are no longer in sync with each other, or up to date with the times, particularly with digital technology now widely used in campaigns.

Because of this situation, the EU observers pointed out in their final report, the Comelec has had to improvise and craft its own rules that are vulnerable to legal challenges.

The observers also noted widespread vote buying in various forms including the use of state-funded ayuda, with chief observer Marta Temido describing vote buying as 'entrenched and endemic.'

Filipinos already know this, but as Temido also observed, the problem 'requires a major engagement to be adequately addressed.'

EU deputy chief observer Sanchez de Nogues, facing 'Storycon' on One News last Friday, said the problem is rooted in poverty. The poor, he told us, 'have nothing to sell so they sell their votes.'

And in buying votes, of course those with large war chests have an edge.

Campaign finance reforms include finding out where the money comes from, and how it is spent. Let’s see if the 20th Congress has the political will to pass the reforms."

In the elections before the pandemic, I asked several senatorial candidates how much they spent for their campaigns.

07/07/2025

The EU EOM attended the presentation today of the report by the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) on the 12 May elections. The PPCRV is a non-partisan, non-profit, faith-based election watchdog organization in the Philippines, founded in 1991. It is officially accredited by the COMELEC as its citizens' arm during elections.

07/07/2025

Here are three of the 21 recommendations included in the EU EOM Final Report. We propose these recommendations for the following reasons:

– ELECTION ADMINISTRATION: the COMELEC did not appear to regard transparency or the promotion of confidence in the electoral process as an integral part of its responsibilities, and tended to respond to concerns either dismissively or punitively. Although various tests on the automated election system were conducted and not formally contested, their results were not publicly accessible, weakening transparency. There was also no public information regarding the types of tests that were conducted.

- AUTOMATED VOTING: despite historical trust in automated counting, there were numerous calls for a return to manual counting, from numerous civil society organisations as well as political parties from across the political spectrum, indicating the need to take measures to generate confidence. Although every voter is issued a receipt (VVPAT) confirming their selection, there is no established procedure to use these receipts to verify the results.

- ELECTION CAMPAIGN: Incumbents use their role in elected office to (1) insert themselves into the process of welfare benefit distribution, and (2) create additional aid programmes to benefit their constituents and voters ahead of elections (through ‘congressional insertions’). Ayuda is effectively the misuse of state resources to buy votes. The EU EOM observed directly and received a high number of credible reports of partisan ayuda distribution during the campaign.

Please see the three recommendations in the picture below.

06/07/2025

The South China Morning Post on the findings of the EU EOM Philippines 2025 Final Report

Political power remains concentrated within a small circle of elite families, the team monitoring the Philippines midterm polls say.

05/07/2025

The EU EOM met with National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) to present the 21 recommendations included in the Final Report. Filipino observers will be invited next week to a roundtable discussion to further examine the recommendations and explore how to implement them.

Please download the EU EOM Final Report here:
https://www.eeas.europa.eu/EUEOMPhilippines2025-FinalReport_en

05/07/2025

The Final Report includes a total of 21 recommendations that the EU EOM offers for the consideration of Philippines’ political and electoral authorities, political parties, civil society, and the public at large.

Among these, Chief Observer Marta Temido highlighted as priorities the following recommendations:
- recodify and harmonise the legal framework to remove discrepancies and inconsistencies;
- make explicit in the legislation the right of access to polling precincts to all accredited election observers and party representatives;
- eliminate restrictions on the rights to vote and be elected;
- repeal criminal defamation provisions in favour of civil sanctions;
- achieving gender parity and alternation in elected and appointed positions.
- ensure the secrecy of the vote for all voters, as one of the most effective means to address vote buying.

05/07/2025

The EU EOM met with Publicus Asia, Inc. to present the Final Report of the EU EOM to Philippines 2025. The 21 recommendations included in the report will be discussed next week in a roundtable with Filipino stakeholders to understand how the country can move forward with crucial reforms and improve the next election processes. The EU EOM hopes that civil society organisations, COMELEC, and lawmakers will work to implement the recommendations they consider important.

Please find the recommendations here (page 41):
https://www.eeas.europa.eu/EUEOMPhilippines2025-FinalReport_en