THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Friday forged an agreement insuring credible results of the 2025 midterm elections.
Comelec chairman George Garcia underscored the significance of the accord to secure the integrity and credibility of next year’s political exercise.
“The foundation of democracy is elections… We need the help of the NBI. The modern-day election is facing a lot of challenges that we must fight such as cybersecurity,” said Garcia during the signing rite.
Every national government agency must have increased attention on the issue of cybercrime, he added.
Garcia recalled that the Comelec was hacked in 2016 whereby the list of voters was compromised in violation of the voters’ right to data privacy.
Garcia also clarified that Comelec powers will set in on 12th of January once the election period begins.
He underscored that they will need the support of the NBI and other law enforcement agencies such as monitoring cyberspace.
For his part, NBI director Jaime Santiago assured the Comelec and the Filipino people that there will be honest, orderly, and peaceful elections.
“It is our mandate to ensure peace especially during election season. The signing of the memorandum of agreement is a good time for the two agencies to work together,” he said.
The NBI-Cybercrime Division will be monitoring vote-buying concerns using online platforms such as GCash and Paymaya, Santiago said.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline “Comelec, NBI sign cybersecurity pact for upcoming elections.”
