Commission on Appointments Greenlights Comelec Commissioners
The Commission on Appointments (CA) approved the ad interim appointments of Ma. Norina Tangaro-Casingal and Noli Rafol Pipo as commissioners of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on June 10. This significant move came after the Committee on Constitutional Commission and Offices, led by Sen. Cynthia Villar, endorsed their confirmation to the plenary.
During the hearing, Sen. Villar raised concerns about the Comelec’s approach in the recent May 2025 elections, specifically regarding persons with disabilities (PWDs) and senior citizens. She pointed out that these voters were allowed to cast their ballots on the ground floor without using vote counting machines (VCMs). Villar emphasized that this practice risks the transparency and credibility of the elections, as those voters cannot verify if their votes were properly counted.
“That’s why the credibility of the election is lost because of those practices. I’m just informing you that there’s a problem with your policy,” Villar stated.
Concerns Over Ballot Discarding and Election Costs
Sen. Risa Hontiveros also questioned the Comelec about the reported disposal of approximately six million printed ballots. This issue arose after the Supreme Court issued temporary restraining orders (TROs) that blocked the Comelec from disqualifying key local officials, including Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes and Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama.
“Pursuant to various temporary restraining orders issued by the Supreme Court, the Comelec allegedly—for the first time in its history—had to discard about six million ballots because it needed to print new ones that included the names of petitioners who were allegedly arbitrarily excluded by the Commission,” Hontiveros explained.
She further highlighted the financial impact, estimating the cost of reprinting ballots at about ₱126 million. “That’s not a small amount. ₱126 million just to reprint ballots that had to be discarded due to these cases,” she added.
Hontiveros urged Comelec to take necessary steps to prevent costly errors and legal challenges in future elections.
Final Endorsement and Moving Forward
In the end, Sen. Villar endorsed the appointments of Casingal and Pipo, paving the way for their full confirmation by the plenary. Local sources noted that this approval marks a crucial step toward strengthening the Commission on Elections amid ongoing challenges.
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