The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has firmly denied allegations of “dagdag-bawas” (vote padding and shaving) in the 2025 senatorial race, following a surge of online claims suggesting discrepancies in the election results.
Comelec Chairman George Garcia clarified on Tuesday that the confusion stemmed from some media outlets releasing election results without properly processing the raw data from the poll body’s data server.
“The results you see from Comelec in real-time are not delayed. However, when it comes to summaries or rankings of candidates, those do not come from us,” Garcia emphasized in an ABS-CBN News report. He explained that while Comelec provides the raw election returns, media, the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL), and the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) process these data, which may result in delays or inconsistencies.
Garcia further pointed out that only two media organizations have the capability to accurately cleanse and process the raw election data before publishing them, ensuring they align with the official transmission.
The Comelec chairman also dismissed speculations about a sudden drop of around 5 million votes for one senatorial candidate, describing it as a misunderstanding of the data processing method.
“There is no ‘dagdag-bawas,’ no shading anomalies. It is simply a matter of correcting duplicated data during the processing,” Garcia stressed, highlighting the poll body’s commitment to transparency and accuracy.
On the same day, the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC) resumed its session, receiving and canvassing 30 certificates of canvass (COC), including results from local absentee voting (LAV), Ifugao, and Baguio City. The NBOC is expected to continue canvassing the remaining 27 COCs.
