Following the three-day forum titled "MOVE: A Colloquium on Election Reform" from 7 to 9 December, election advocacy group Legal Network for Truthful Elections on Saturday expressed support for the proposed reforms by Commission on Elections Chairman George Erwin Garcia.

In a statement, LENTE said that they are backing the proposed measures of the Comelec chief to amend existing election laws on the consideration of aspirants as candidates and the push to extend the period of prohibition of certain acts from during the campaign period to after the filing of certificates of candidacy.

Garcia's proposal to allow early voting for persons with disabilities, pregnant women and the elderly, modernizing the law on election campaign propaganda, expanding the scope of vote-buying and vote-selling offenses for modernized illegal acts, and amending the Partylist law is also being supported.

The group is calling for the Senate Committee on Election Reforms and Peoples Participation to indicate their priority legislation and support for Comelec's reform proposals.

"As electoral reform processes are both political and technical in nature, we have to maximize the 1st Regular Session of the Congress, which is the best time to initiate reforms," the statement read.

Garcia, who was one of the resource speakers on Day 2 of the colloquium, also addressed the challenges of maintaining Comelec's autonomy, including their strive for independent office spaces.

"Comelec is a constitutional body that can't be abolished even through legislation, but why are we depending on the local government? How do you maintain and ensure the independence of the COMELEC if power and water are often cut off or when we experience flooding," Garcia said.