THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday, August 18, 2025, said the printing of official ballots for the October 13 Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections (BPE) is set to begin on August 24.
In a televised public briefing, Comelec Spokesman John Rex Laudiangco announced the schedule of the ballot printing to be conducted by the National Printing Office (NPO).
"Sa August 24 po ay magsisimula na ang Comelec, sa pamamagitan ng National Printing Office, ng pag-imprenta ng halos nasa 2.215 million na official ballots," said Laudiangco.
(On August 24, the Comelec, through the National Printing Office, will begin printing nearly 2.215 million official ballots.)
He said this will be followed by the deployment of the official ballots and other poll paraphernalia to the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Barmm).
"Patungkol sa ating deployment, dahil po ang Oktubre ay panahon ng ulan, isang bagay po iyan na pinaghahandaan din ng Comelec," noted the official.
(Regarding deployment, since October is the rainy season, that is something the Comelec is also preparing for.)
Laudiangco added that the technical aspect of their preparations is already completed, particularly with the automated election system (AES) that will be used.
"Ang atin pong sistema ay tuluy-tuloy na hinahanda. Ang local source code ay ready na. Natapos na rin po natin ang field testing at ang mock elections, at lahat po ito ay successful," he said.
(Our system is continuously being prepared. The local source code is already ready. We have also completed the field testing and mock elections, and all of these were successful.)
The poll official said they are now preparing for the training of the Electoral Board members in managing the AES.
"Kasunod na po naming gagawin diyan ay ang training ng ating Electoral Boards," said Laudiangco.
(We will conduct the training of our Electoral Boards next.)
As for the security aspect of their preparations, he said they are in close coordination with law enforcement and security personnel.
"Sa ngayon po ay kinakitaan naman namin ng kagandahan ang peace and order situation (sa Barmm)," said Laudiangco.
(So far, we have observed a positive peace and order situation in Barmm.)
On October 13, the Comelec is set to conduct the first-ever Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections. (Anton Banal/SunStar Philippines)