THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) announced that over 57, 000 voters have been allowed to join in the local absentee voting (LAV) for the 2025 midterm polls.
Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia, said that of the total number, the poll body has approved 57,689 LAV applications for the May 12 National and Local Elections.
It was learned that of the number, 1,005 are media personnel; 29,030 are members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) including the Philippine Army (PA), Philippine Air Force (PAF) and Philippine Navy (PN), while 23,448 are from the Philippine National Police (PNP).
Meanwhile, 4,206 are employees from various government offices including the Comelec, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).
Garcia said the voting period for absentee voters will begin on April 28 and will end on April 30, 2025. The LAV will be held in the places of the requesting offices.
For media voters in the National Capital Region (NCR), the ballots will be delivered to the Office of the Regional Election Director (ORED) where the voting will take place.
For media in highly-urbanized cities (HUCs) outside of the NCR, they may cast their votes in the office of the Provincial Election Supervisors (PES) in their respective areas.
For media members from other areas, they may vote at the local Offices of the Election Officers (OEOs).
The Comelec had said that those who may participate in the local absentee voting are members of the AFP, PNP, government offices and media practitioners who need to be on duty on the election day itself.
