ILOILO City – To ensure the smooth conduct of the May 2025 national and local elections in Western Visayas, the Regional Joint Security Control Center (RJSCC) will officially launch today, November 6, at Camp General Martin T. Delgado, Fort San Pedro here.
Atty. Dennis Ausan, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Region 6 director, said, “The RJSCC is a body created by our Commission to prepare and devise security plans to ensure our elections in the region are conducted peacefully and orderly.”
Ausan will also serve as the chairperson of the RJSCC, which is composed of representatives from the Comelec, Philippine National Police (PNP), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), and Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), among other agencies. These agencies play significant roles in planning and crafting security strategies for the upcoming elections.
The RJSCC would also lead in implementing various initiatives related to the 2025 elections. Key focuses include maintaining peace and order, curbing vote buying, and the Anti-Epal campaign, which began during the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE).
The Task Force Anti-Epal addresses premature and illegal campaigning, which is considered an electoral offense. Promoting the election or defeat of a candidate before the official campaign period can result in disqualification.
“Last year, we really pushed back against epal, fighting vote buying, and this advocacy requires a whole government approach. That’s why we’re inviting all agencies to attend the RJSCC meeting. This serves as our avenue to begin all preparations here,” Ausan said.
Currently, field personnel from city, municipality, and provincial election offices are busy conducting activities aligned with the upcoming elections. The Comelec held voter registration from February to September 2024 and recently conducted the filing of Certificates of Candidacy (COCs) from October 1 to 8.
This week, the Office of Election Officers (OEOs) in the region is conducting Election Registration Board (ERB) hearings to finalize the number of registered voters.
The Comelec aims to finalize the official list of qualified candidates before December 2025, as the printing of official ballots will commence in January 2025.
The election period will start on January 12, 2025, ushering in a number of changes in policies, including a gun ban, prohibition on the suspension of elective officials, and prohibition on the movement of officers in the civil service, among others.
Candidates for the Senate and the party-list system will be allowed to officially campaign beginning February 11, while local aspirants can start wooing voters on March 28. The campaign period will end on May 10.
Overseas voters will be allowed to vote a month in advance, beginning April 13, while Filipinos here in the Philippines are scheduled to cast their ballots on election day, May 12.
The dates to remember are summarized below:
* January 12 to June 11, 2025: Election period, gun ban
* February 11 to May 10, 2025: Campaign period for candidates for senator and groups in the party-list system
* March 28 to May 10, 2025: Campaign period for candidates for House district lawmaker, and parliamentary, provincial, city, and municipal officials
* April 13 to May 12, 2025: Voting by overseas voters
* April 28 to 30, 2025: Voting by local absentee voters
* May 11, 2025: Liquor ban
*May 12, 2025: Election day
*June 11, 2025: Last day to file statement of contributions and expenditures (SOCE)./PN
