Comelec: EMBO voters can't pick House representative in 2025 polls

MANILA – Registered voters in 10 EMBO (enlisted men's barrio) villages of Taguig City cannot vote for their congressional representative in the 2025 midterm elections, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Tuesday.

In a press conference, Comelec chair George Erwin Garcia said the residents of barangays Pembo, Comembo, Cembo, South Cembo, West Rembo, East Rembo, Pitogo, Rizal, Northside, and Southside can only vote for national positions and local positions such as mayor, vice mayor and members of the city council.

“Ginawa ng Commission ‘yan sapagkat kailangan namin magkaroon ng ruling para kung palagay ng iba gusto nila question nin na, mas maganda gawin na ng maaga. Kailangan din mahanda na din namin ang mga ballot faces at precincts bandang November at December (The Commission made the move because we need to have a ruling so that if some would like to question it, it would be better to question it this early. We also need to prepare the ballot faces and precincts by November or December)," Garcia said.

He said they hope to have poll ballots printed by the third or last week of December.

He said there is no law stating that these 10 villages belong to any of Taguig City's two congressional districts.

“At the same time, hindi pwede gawin ng Comelec na isama ang 10 barangays sa isang distrito dahil resulta nyan, binabago ng Comelec ang mismong batas natin. Nung ginawa ang batas, dalawang districts ang Taguig, naka-specify ang mga barangays na kabilang sa dalawang distrito na ito (The Comelec cannot include these 10 barangays in one district because it would appear that we are changing the law. When the law was created, there were only two districts in Taguig and the barangays that are included in these districts are specified)," he said.

With the transfer of these villages to Taguig's jurisdiction, Garcia said the second district of Makati is now only composed of three villages -- Guadalupe Viejo, Guadalupe Nuevo, and Pinagkaisahan.

He said there would be no changes for voters in Makati's second district, which became fewer.

“The Commission believes that the power to create carries the power to abolish. Only Congress has power to abolish the legislative district of Makati, the original second district of Makati,” he said.

The 10 villages were transferred to Taguig from Makati, after the Supreme Court in 2023 ruled that Taguig has jurisdiction over Fort Bonifacio and the EMBO villages. (PNA)