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Discarding six million ballots: Sen. Risa Hontiveros, during the Commission on Appointments’ (CA) deliberation on the ad interim appointments of two Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioners on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, seeks clarificatory explanations from a Comelec commissioner regarding the reported discarding of approximately six million printed ballots. The issue stemmed from the Supreme Court's issuance of temporary restraining orders (TROs) that prevented the Comelec from disqualifying Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes, former Albay Governor Noel Rosal, and Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama. “Pursuant to various temporary restraining orders issued by the Supreme Court, the Comelec allegedly—for the first time in its history—had to discard about six million ballots because it needed to print new ones that included the names of petitioners who were allegedly arbitrarily excluded by the Commission,” Hontiveros said. “That’s around ₱126 million. That’s not a small amount. ₱126 million just to reprint ballots that had to be discarded due to these cases.” She urged the Comelec to ensure that future elections are free from costly errors and potential legal missteps. (Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau)