The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has accredited 41 new party-list organizations for the 2025 national and local elections (NLE), according to its chairperson, George Erwin Garcia, on Monday.
Garcia noted that the number of newly accredited party-list groups is lower compared to the 2022 elections, which saw nearly 70 new groups gaining accreditation.
“The number of accredited party-lists this time is 41, which is fewer than the roughly 70 that were accredited for the 2022 elections,” Garcia said in an interview during the inspection of data sites for the midterm elections in Makati.
He emphasized that the reduction was not intentional but a result of Comelec’s efforts to ensure that party-list groups truly represent marginalized and underrepresented sectors.
Garcia previously mentioned that around 164 new and existing party-list groups are vying for accreditation in the upcoming elections.
He added that Comelec aims to release the final list of accredited organizations by the end of the week.As of September 23, 2024, the Comelec has denied the applications of approximately 142 party-list groups.
Garcia explained that many were rejected due to incomplete documents, such as missing constitutions, by-laws, or membership lists, and some presented questionable advocacy credentials.
“Some groups try to evade our stringent scrutiny, but we thoroughly examine every application,” Garcia stated.
