Senator Loren Legarda lauded the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) for the peaceful, orderly, and efficient conduct of the 2025 national and local elections, highlighting the speed of result transmission and the overall transparency that characterized this year’s polls.
“We must commend the COMELEC for the professionalism and efficiency it demonstrated during the 2025 elections. The swift and credible transmission of results, coupled with a well-managed voting process nationwide, reflects years of institutional strengthening and reform,” Legarda said.
“We also extend our deepest thanks to the teachers, poll workers, and countless volunteers whose tireless service made this democratic exercise possible.”
“We also extend our deepest thanks to the teachers, poll workers, and countless volunteers whose tireless service made this democratic exercise possible,” the veteran legislator said.
However, the seasoned lawmaker expressed concern over the unfortunate incidents of heightened alerts, crime, and violence that transpired in some areas during the election period.
“It is deeply troubling that in this modern age, where the right to suffrage should be upheld by all, any form of suppression or violence has no place in our democracy. We thank the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for their efforts in ensuring the peace and safety of the electorate,” the lady senator added.
She also reiterated the state’s strong condemnation of the use of violence aimed at influencing election outcomes, emphasizing that such actions undermine the integrity of the democratic process.
Building on this success, Legarda encouraged COMELEC to take the next step in deepening public trust by making anonymized, disaggregated election data, such as demographic voting patterns, more widely accessible to the public. She emphasized that this would not only elevate the quality of democratic discourse but also empower citizens, particularly the youth, to better understand electoral trends and their own role in shaping national outcomes.
“We are in a unique position to bring our democracy to the next level. By releasing more open and granular data that is carefully curated to protect voter privacy, we can enable students, researchers, policymakers, and ordinary citizens to engage more critically with the electoral process,” she noted.
“Understanding how young people vote, what issues resonate across age groups or regions, helps us listen better, govern better, and include better.”
“Understanding how young people vote, what issues resonate across age groups or regions, helps us listen better, govern better, and include better,” Legarda added.
She proposed that COMELEC consider further innovations to elevate public engagement and transparency, specifically by making available comprehensive, anonymized electoral data. Legarda suggested that such a platform could include both present and historical voting data, disaggregated by age, sex, gender, region, ethnicity, educational attainment, and other relevant indicators. The portal could also include key details about candidates, such as whether they are reelectionists or first-time contenders.
She also proposed fostering partnerships between COMELEC and academic institutions or data analysts/experts to ensure that these efforts are implemented with care, rigor, and integrity. Such initiatives, Legarda said, can promote civic education, fight disinformation, and sustain the gains made in electoral transparency.
“Transparency does not end at the ballot box. It extends to how we reflect on our choices, learn from our shared experience, and refine the democratic space we all inhabit. COMELEC can continue to lead by example, not only in administering elections, but also in enriching the public’s understanding of how democracy works,” she concluded.
