The Commission on Elections (Comelec) held its inaugural national convention on Tuesday at the World Trade Center in Pasay City, with approximately 2,000 election officers in attendance over the course of three days.
According to Comelec chairman George Erwin Garcia, the convention would train its employees on the commission’s rules and put into effect regulations ahead of the 2025 elections.
“For the first time in the history of the Comelec, we have a national convention of all election officers throughout the Philippines, 2,000 of them are here to provide information for the 2025 elections,” Garcia told one reliable media source on Monday.
Garcia stated that part of the convention’s purpose is to teach election officers how to correctly use automated counting machines (ACM) for the 2025 elections.
“Using new machines, updates regarding the processes that we will implement in the 2025 election so at the same time, the first time to meet each other, all our election officers all over the Philippines will meet face to face,” according to the official.
“Of course the machine to be used is unique and that has many new features, at the same time there are many guidelines that they need to learn,” he added.
Garcia stated that the commission planned to undertake a nationwide demonstration of how to utilize the ACM from December 2, 2024, to January 30, 2025.
Garcia also stated that the Commission will hold simulated elections inside actual polling precincts, in which actual voters will participate.