Makati city: The conduct of the 2025 Philippine elections was 'operationally successful,' with room to implement reforms, the European Union poll observer mission has said in its final report.
According to Philippines News Agency, the report offered 21 recommendations aimed at enhancing transparency, fostering participation, and consolidating the legal framework governing elections in the country. At a press conference in Makati City on Thursday, Chief Observer Marta Temido conveyed the EU's readiness to continue supporting the Philippines in making its elections transparent and inclusive. 'I am confident that the Philippines will continue their reform journey. Core principles such as transparency, inclusivity, secrecy of the vote, and freedom of expression are central to these reforms,' she said.
In its final report, the EU Election Observation Mission (EOM) underscored the need for a comprehensive review of 'persistent challenges' in elections, including electoral violence, the concentration of political power among a few families, vote buying, and a legal framework marked by significant gaps and ambiguities. The EOM said some provisions in the 1985 Omnibus Election Code-from voters' and candidates' eligibility, political party and candidate registration, campaign finance, election observation, election disputes to sanctions-require revisions to bring them in line with international instruments related to elections.
'The Commission on Elections (Comelec) administered the elections efficiently, took proactive measures to promote inclusiveness and attempted to address entrenched vote-buying practices, but its extensive powers to exclude and disqualify candidates based on non-objective criteria, and to suspend the proclamation of duly elected officials are not in line with key international standards,' the report read.
The mission's final report proposed 21 recommendations, with the following as priorities: recodify and harmonize the legal framework to remove discrepancies and inconsistencies; remove restrictions on the rights to vote for imprisoned citizens; repeal criminal defamation provisions in favor of civil sanctions; spell out decisions on the rejection of candidates in the legal framework; achieve gender parity and alternation in elected and appointed positions; and ensure the secrecy of the vote for all voters. 'The European Union stands ready to support national authorities in implementing these recommendations to further strengthen the country's democratic path,' Temido said.
The EU praised Comelec's steps to modernize the process, particularly measures on digital campaigning, out-of-country voting, and artificial intelligence; and measures against red-tagging, vote buying, and the use of discriminatory and sexist speech. It also noted challenges such as press intimidation, disinformation, and the artificial boosting of online engagement by some candidates, economic vulnerability, and a prevailing culture of impunity.
Filipinos elected the 20th Congress on May 12, including 12 senators and 317 members of the House of Representatives, with a voter turnout of 81.65 percent, the highest recorded in national midterm elections.
The EOM declined to answer when asked if the arrest of President Rodrigo Duterte swayed voters in the elections, but the report said this development indeed further polarized the electorate. The report also noted that regional maritime tensions with China were also 'reflected in the domestic framing of the 12 May vote.' The EOM deployed a total of 226 observers from EU Member States, as well as from Canada, Norway, and Switzerland upon the invitation of the Philippine government. The observation mission conducted its work in the Philippines from March 28 to June 2. The full report of the EU EOM may be accessed at the EU website.