MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court (SC) has dismissed a petition seeking to compel the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to implement manual precinct-level vote counting alongside the automated election system (AES).
In an 11-page decision promulgated on Oct. 28, 2025 and made public in May 2026, the high court said manual counting “is not a mandatory requirement under Republic Act (RA) No. 9369.”
The high court ruled that the said RA clearly intended to modernize Philippine elections through automation and upheld Comelec’s reliance on automated counting machines (ACMs).
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Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said on Friday in a Viber message to reporters that they are “extremely jubilant” over SC’s decision.FEATURED STORIES
