The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has allayed fears of possible manipulation of overseas absentee votes following a viral Facebook post alleging discrepancies in the online ballot verification process.

The concern stemmed from a post by Jefferson Salazar Bonoan, a voter in Singapore, who claimed that upon scanning the QR code shown by the Comelec portal, the result did not reflect the candidates he voted for but instead showed unfamiliar names.

Bonoan said the QR code, which is intended to confirm whether votes were cast correctly, left him confused and worried.

"How can you show us OFWs that our votes were cast correctly? Unlike past elections, we can see receipts after the ballots were inserted in PCOS machines," he lamented.

"We OFWs have the right to know, and we are not blind of what's going on to our beloved country," he added.

Comelec Chairperson George Garcia responded to the concern, clarifying that the system does not display the names of chosen candidates due to safeguards against vote buying.

"Hindi po pwede maipakita ang names ng binoto dahil magagamit sa vote buying," Garcia told reporters.

(We cannot show the names of who they voted for because it could be used in vote buying)

"So paano po ma-check kung yung lumabas sa machine o pumasok sa voting system ay yun talaga ang nilagay ng botante? Yan po ang gagawing later sa random manual audit ng Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) at National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL)," he added.

(So how can we check if what comes out of the machine or enters the voting system is what the voter actually entered? That will be done later in the random manual audit by PPCRV and NAMFREL)

Overseas voting for the 2025 midterm elections began on Sunday, 13 April, and will run until 12 May. Filipinos abroad are voting only for national positions — 12 senators and one party-list group.

Out of 93 foreign posts, 77 are using internet voting through the Comelec's Online Voting and Counting System (OVCS), allowing voters to cast their ballots via cellphones, tablets, or laptops.

There are currently 1.24 million registered Filipino voters abroad.