Tag: COMELEC

Philippines – Local retail company National Book Store has pulled out money envelopes from its ‘election materials essentials’ collection following a request from the Philippines Commission on Elections (COMELEC), according to a report from the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

National Book Store president and CEO Adrian Ramos has assured COMELEC in a letter that the order to eliminate coin and small money envelopes in the said category has been disseminated to all of its branches nationwide.

Ramos’ letter read, “While we understand and appreciate your point that small money/coin envelopes might be used in illegal activities such as vote-buying during election season, we assure your good office that there was no malice nor any ill-intention on our part to attribute the marketing and use of the said envelopes to vote-buying.”

He said National Book Store remains compliant with COMELEC’s rules and is “supportive of its programs.”

COMELEC’s request letter, signed by chairman George Erwin Garcia, cited the “in-store marketing strategy” as potentially spreading the idea of vote buying as a norm.

Though acknowledging that the envelopes can be used for purposes such as payments for watchers and suppliers, COMELEC sought a “corrective action” to prevent the normalisation of vote buying.

“We do not wish to interfere on how National Book Store conducts its business, but we also worry that impressionable children and minors who frequent your stores may be led to believe that the illegal practice of vote buying is societally condoned,” Garcia said.

MARKETECH APAC has reached out to Ramos for more information.

Besides money envelopes, National Book Store’s ‘election materials essentials’ include pens, glue, scissors, and stamp pads.

The 90-day campaign period for the 2025 midterm national elections in the Philippines began on February 11 to May 10, 2025, applying to senatorial candidates and party-list groups.

Meanwhile, candidates for local posts begin their campaign from March 28 until May 10, 2025. The Philippines’ election day is on May 12.

Manila, Philippines – With the Philippines’ 2022 national elections fast approaching and in order to promote healthy civic discussion online, social media platform Twitter has partnered with the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to amplify voter education initiatives on the policy, product and partnership front to protect the integrity of election-centric conversations on the platform.

To unite people around election conversations on Twitter, the platform has launched a series of customised emojis that aim to be valuable visual links to aid the discoverability of election-related discussions. The emojis will run throughout the campaign period and will be available until 27 May.

From 16 March, a microphone emoji with the Philippine flag colours can be activated by the hashtag #PilipinasDebates2022 and #AskPilipinasDebates, in line with the ongoing national debates of candidates. Meanwhile, starting 31 March, for election-related conversation, Twitter is launching a special emoji that features a ballot box, a universal symbol for elections, set in front of the Philippine flag. They can be activated using the hashtags #2022NLE, #BumotoKa, #Halalan2022, #Piniliay2022, #HIJAlalan2022, #PHVote, #PHVoteResults, and #WeDecide.

In addition, starting 31 March, an emoji featuring the silhouette of a female, who represents the Motherland, will be activated by use of the hashtag #VoteSafePilipinas.

Additionally, online search prompts will be available to facilitate access to authoritative sources of information on voting in both Filipino and English languages. The search prompt is a notification service that connects people to credible information about the elections. When searching for keywords associated with the Philippine General Election such as “NLE 2022,” “Vote Philippines” and “General Election”; the search result will show a notification at the top, directing people to the latest credible election information from COMELEC or VoteSAFEPilipinas.

James B. Jimenez, director of education and information department at COMELEC, said, “With a record-breaking 65.7 million registered voters, the Philippines is expected to hold one of the largest elections in Asia. During this most important time for us as a nation; collaboration between governments, industry partners and civic organisations is crucial to protect the integrity of the elections. We are pleased to be partnering with Twitter to fight misinformation and encourage voter participation.”

To support the diverse voter base, Twitter is partnering and working together with a wide range of partner organisations to ensure Twitter is a place for healthy public conversation. In addition, they will be hosting and/or promoting a series of events on Twitter to educate voters on the elections process, fight against misinformation, and foster healthy discussions around election-specific issues. These organisations include #FactsFirstPH, Foundation for Media Alternatives, GMA Network, Legal Network for Truthful Elections, National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections, National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, and Plan International Philippines (@planphilippines).

Monrawee Ampolpittayanant, head of public policy, government and philanthropy for Twitter in Southeast Asia, commented, “At Twitter, protecting the integrity of public conversation during elections is core to our mission. Our policies are designed to help protect against inauthentic information and safeguard healthy public conversations. Drawing on insights and lessons from previous elections, both globally and in the Philippines, we have implemented products, policies, and enforcement updates to protect and support the conversation taking place during the course of the upcoming election.”

She added, “Platforms like Twitter are where important election related conversations are taking place. We are closely monitoring abusive behaviour, this includes content in Filipino, and will not tolerate any rule-violating activities, such as spam. Together with COMELEC, non-profit organisations and other trusted partners on the ground; we continue to harness the power of the #OpenInternet to strengthen civic dialogue and encourage quality participation during this important Philippine General Election.”

The platform also announced that they have formed an internal elections group to lead their electoral integrity work from now through polling day. Using their proprietary-built internal tools, the team will proactively protect Trends on Twitter in the Philippines, support partner escalations, and identify potential threats from malicious actors. 

“Cross-functional by design, we have a dedicated and specially trained team, consisting of the company’s top trust and safety experts with local language capabilities and a deep understanding of local contexts. This blend of perspectives, expertise, and backgrounds is absolutely critical in addressing issues that arise from the elections,” Twitter said in a press statement.

Manila, Philippines – As the Philippines gears towards the upcoming national elections come May 2022, the country’s Commission on Elections (COMELEC) has announced that they have surpassed their voter registration target, adding 5.4 million new registered voters. Part of that milestone is attributed to the commission’s recent campaign, which featured the ‘ghosts’ of well-known Philippine national heroes.

The campaign, called ‘MagparehistroKa! (vernacular for ‘Register Now!’), is conceptualized alongside creative agency MullenLowe TREYNA. The campaign is encapsulated in an interactive website, featuring the ‘ghosts’ of the country’s national heroes such as Dr. Jose Rizal, Melchora Aquino, Andres Bonifacio and Apolinario Mabini.

These ‘ghosts’ narrated their sacrifices for the country and paved the way for democracy, and then playfully urged netizens into completing their registration or else ‘something happens’.

Another layer of personalization within the campaign is the utilization of Google Maps, which helps registrants locate the nearest COMELEC office of the election officers (OEOs) or satellite registration sites from their location.

Part of the interactive website, the ‘heroes’ also reminds new registrants what to bring to the registration as well as the proper health and social protocols they must follow on the day The site also directs visitors to COMELEC’s iRehistro site where they can accomplish required details and complete their registration. 

Speaking about the campaign rollout, James Jimenez, spokesperson and director at COMELEC said, “It became our main goal to persuade these young Filipinos to register without patronizing or intimidating them. They are next in line to build the nation in the future, and giving them an opportunity to decide for the country will benefit everyone.”

As a final push when COMELEC extended voter registration until the end of October, special OPM playlists were also launched at Spotify and YouTube Music that registrants can listen to during long waiting periods at the registration sites. Listeners can choose from three OPM playlists ranging from rock anthems to girl power tunes and mellow ballads.

Local entertainment personas such as Alden Richards, Bianca Gonzalez-Intal, and Jasmine Curtis-Smith who saw the social posts from the Twitter accounts of Google Philippines and COMELEC, also helped in promoting the site.

“These results are truly overwhelming because [one] it went past our initial targets, and [two] now more young Filipinos will be involved and participate in the elections for the first time,” Jimenez concluded.