PH 2025 elections did not meet int’l standards for free, fair elections –Observer Mission Report

Voter disenfranchisement, vote-buying, systematic repression, and foreign interference cited as key findings

By ICHRP
May 27, 2025

QUEZON CITY – The 2025 Philippine midterm elections “did not meet international standards for free and fair elections,” according to the final report of the International Observer Mission (IOM) released today, citing “grave and widespread violations” of human rights across the country. The mission’s findings point to a confluence of factors that severely undermined the integrity of the electoral process: voter disenfranchisement, widespread vote-buying, systemic human rights violations, the entrenched power of domestic political dynasties, and the foreign military influence in local political affairs.

“The rights of Filipinos to vote freely and without coercion were compromised,” says IOM Commissioner Lee Rhiannon. “The climate of fear, normalized vote-buying and militarization that surrounded the elections reflects a failure to uphold international democratic standards.”

The IOM’s conclusion is based on weeks of intensive documentation by international field teams deployed across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao during the election campaign and on election day, May 12. Observers conducted on-the-ground interviews with voters, poll watchers, campaigners, local officials, and civil society leaders, while remote teams tracked digital disinformation, overseas absentee voting, and media coverage.

The comprehensive report is the result of an independent international initiative that adopts a rights-based approach to monitoring the elections. This was organized by the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) and launched in 2022.

For the 2025 mission, more than 50 international human rights advocates took part, with field Observers deployed to priority areas with histories of election-related violence. The Mission partnered with local watchdogs such as Kontra Daya and Vote Report PH, while remote teams monitored digital disinformation, overseas absentee voting (OAV), and voting irregularities abroad.

“Our findings point to a widespread pattern of repression and vote-buying alongside threats of foreign interference,” said IOM Commissioner Andrea Mann. “The red-tagging of progressive candidates, vote-buying, disenfranchisement, and militarization are not isolated problems. These reflect a deeply compromised system.”

“Given the scale and severity of these violations, we conclude that the 2025 Philippine elections failed to meet international standards for free, fair, and democratic elections,” Mann stated.

Voter Disenfranchisement, Vote-Buying

“These elections violated key articles of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the Philippines is a state party,” said ICHRP Global Council Chairperson Peter Murphy. The IOM Final Report documented 545 cases of electoral violations, including vote-buying, disenfranchisement, harassment, and even election-related killings and disappearances. “These abuses fundamentally undermined the rights of Filipinos to participate in free and fair elections,” he added.

The Mission highlighted the rampant voter disenfranchisement. Malfunctioning automated counting machines (ACMs), ballots misread as overvotes, and pre-marked or misprinted ballots disenfranchised thousands. COMELEC failed to explain why the machines ran on a non-certified software version, casting doubt on the integrity of the results.

According to the report, the disenfranchisement extended overseas, where online registration glitches and delayed pre-enrolment requirements led to a historically low 18.12% voter turnout among OFWs, far below even the usual participation rates. Workers and the urban poor were similarly excluded, as May 13 was not declared a paid holiday, forcing many to choose between voting and earning income.

Murphy also raised alarm over the scale of vote-buying, calling it “scandalous interference with the election.” The IOM alone, recorded 111 vote-buying incidents, with COMELEC receiving 158 formal complaints but issuing only minimal sanctions. Some party-lists, such as Ako Bicol, reportedly offered up to 16,000 PHP (~289 USD) per vote. “Mass poverty and entrenched inequality have enabled political dynasties and business-funded candidates to distort electoral outcomes,” Murphy stated.

He mentioned the recommendations from the IOM report on electoral reforms, including the adoption of a hybrid manual-automated voting system, addressing the inaccessible OFW registration process, and the declaration of election day as a paid public holiday.

Red-Tagging, militarization undermine free elections

“The 2025 midterm election failed to uphold the most basic democratic principle: the people’s uncoerced right to choose their leaders,” said IOM Commissioner Rhiannon. “The abuses by various arms of state power documented here reveal the extent of the failed Filipino electoral process. These abuses not only constitute electoral violations, they also constitute violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.”

Central to these violations, she pointed out, was the systematic use of red-tagging, which she described as "the most frequently reported violation." There were 112 documented cases solely by the Mission, while a staggering 1,445 cases were reported to the IOM local election watchdog Vote Report PH. "It is used to smear reputations, deter campaigning, and prevent people from voting," Rhiannon explained.

The Commissioner recounted disturbing cases of red-tagging and intimidation: from tarpaulins branding progressive candidates “NPA” and “terrorist” in Southern Tagalog to the display of fake coffins marked with blood and names of activist groups across the country. “In Western Visayas, soldiers interrogated children as young as five. In Abra, the military handed out ‘surrender papers’ in exchange for financial aid or a chance to ‘clear’ one's name,” she added. Rhiannon emphasized that these abuses were not isolated but part of a “well-funded campaign involving the police, military, and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).”

“The unchecked labeling of progressive groups as insurgents has fostered a climate of fear, suppressed political participation, and severely undermined democratic space,” Rhiannon said.

Violation of national sovereignty highlighted

IOM Commissioner Colleen Moore pointed out the timing and scope of the U.S.-led Balikatan military exercises, which overlapped with the Philippine 2025 midterm elections, as a major distortion of democratic space. “The concurrent staging of large-scale war games with over 15,000 foreign and local troops during an electoral campaign is not just poor judgment. It is an outright violation of national sovereignty of Filipinos,” Moore said.

She emphasized that the exercises were “framed by government officials and administration-aligned candidates as defensive maneuvers against an imminent threat, but in reality, it contributed to manufacturing a climate of fear designed to steer public opinion toward pro-U.S., pro-Marcos candidates.” According to the IOM report, this convergence of militarization and electoral politics "compromised the conditions necessary for a free and fair vote."

The IOM Commissioner noted that candidates advocating an independent foreign policy were vilified as “Beijing’s puppets,” while dissent was drowned out by the state narrative equating opposition to the exercises with disloyalty. "The international community must recognize that ongoing military cooperation, such as Balikatan, directly contributes to political repression and distorts civic discourse," Moore stated. She referenced recommendations from the report calling for an end to foreign military activities and security aid to the Philippines during electoral periods and beyond.

Observer mission recommendations

The report issued a comprehensive set of recommendations aimed at addressing deep-rooted structural issues in the country’s electoral and governance systems. The report emphasizes that many of these recommendations echo those made in its 2022 findings. This is evidence, it states, of “the persistence of systemic issues that continue to shape electoral processes in the Philippines.”

Among its primary calls are the adoption of a hybrid election system that allows for both manual and automated vote verification, the urgent passage of the long-delayed Anti-Dynasty Bill, and measures to ensure nonpartisanship and transparency of the COMELEC. The IOM also highlighted the need for legal reforms that would empower voters to report violations such as vote-buying without fear of retaliation.

The IOM extended its appeal to the international community, calling for sustained scrutiny of the Philippine electoral process and human rights situation. It specifically calls for the abolition of the NTF-ELCAC, describing it as a “central apparatus of red-tagging, intimidation, and political repression.”

The IOM urges the Philippine government to criminalize red-tagging, outlaw the use of private armies, repeal the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, and rejoin the International Criminal Court (ICC) as essential steps toward restoring democratic space and accountability. These measures, the report states, are vital to protecting civil society, enabling peaceful political participation, and rebuilding public confidence in the country’s democratic institutions.