FACT CHECK | Bayan Muna has not been disqualified by the COMELEC in 2025 polls

A supposed press statement from the Commission on Elections has circulated on various social media pages, with some posted on spoofed versions of media channels such as Rappler, Inquirer, and Philstar.com. 

The Comelec statement supposedly announces the disqualification of partylist Bayan Muna. 

This claim is FAKE, and the Comelec has since denied the existence of such a memorandum order.

We are fact-checking this claim as this fake press release has circulated widely two days before election day, May 12. 

MindaNews received a copy of the circulating press release from Comelec, Saturday night. 

According to the fake press release, “The Commission on Elections (COMELEC), in its En Banc session during deliberations on May 6, 2025, has decided with finality to disqualify the BAYAN MUNA PARTYLIST from the May 12, 2025 elections.”

The fake press release likewise cites Section 68 of the Omnibus Election Code which identifies terrorism as an election offense. 

The Commission on Elections has since disowned the post. 

In a statement Saturday night, the Comelec posted 

“𝑩𝒂𝒚𝒂𝒏 𝑴𝒖𝒏𝒂 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒚-𝑳𝒊𝒔𝒕, 𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 2025 𝑵𝑳𝑬

𝐅𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐍𝐄𝐖𝐒 ang kumakalat na Press Statement na ‘di umano’y galing sa Office of the COMELEC Spokesperson patungkol sa 𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐤𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐤𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐢𝐤𝐚 𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐮𝐧𝐚 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲-𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐚 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝟏𝟐, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.

Makikitang 𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐲𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐠𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐚 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐂.

𝐖𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐚 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐄𝐧 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐜 𝐧𝐚 𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐤𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐢𝐤𝐚 𝐬𝐚 𝐁𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐮𝐧𝐚 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲-𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭 ngayong halalan at sila ay 𝐎𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐘𝐀𝐋 𝐏𝐀 𝐑𝐈𝐍 𝐍𝐀 𝐊𝐀𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐀 𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐇𝐀𝐍 𝐍𝐆 𝐌𝐆𝐀 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐘-𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐏𝐒 𝐍𝐀 𝐌𝐀𝐀𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐁𝐎𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐀 𝐋𝐔𝐍𝐄𝐒 (𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝟏𝟐, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓).

Ang ganitong istilo at paggaya ng dokumento na animo’y galing sa isang ahensya ng gobyerno ay 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐤𝐭𝐚 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐠 𝐬𝐚 𝐤𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐧 𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐭 𝐏𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐨 𝐬𝐚 𝐭𝐚𝐦𝐚 𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐲𝐨𝐧 𝐥𝐚𝐥𝐨 𝐧𝐚 𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐡𝐨𝐧 𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐤𝐬𝐲𝐨𝐧.

Pinaaalalahanan ang lahat na 𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐩𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐞, 𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 sa ilalim ng Section 261(z)(11) ng Omnibus Election Code.”

Another version spreads a supposed En Banc decision of the Comelec. This is likewise fake. 

One of the fake posts, from Facebook Page Terror Watch, had 533 shares, 63 comments, and 134 reactions as of Sunday, May 11, 7:30 a.m.

For its part, Bayan Muna Davao regional coordinator Rauf Sissay sent a statement to MindaNews.

“We in Bayan Muna Southern Mindanao would like to clarify that Bayan Muna Partylist is not disqualified from the 2025 elections. This is a deliberate attempt by state-sponsored elements to deceive the voting public, and discredit Bayan Muna and its pro-poor advocacies. We also denounce all forms of red-tagging and terrorist labeling of progressive organizations.” 

Bayan Muna nominee and former Congressman Karlos Zarate said in a Facebook Video that the claim is a repeat of past elections, where disinformation actors faked their organization’s disqualification. 

As early as February this year, Vera Files already spotted an attempt to fake Bayan Muna’s disqualification. 

Similar fake disqualification posts were also widespread during the 2022 elections. 

As with all our other reports, MindaNews welcomes fact check leads or suggestions from the public. 

MindaNews is a verified signatory to the Code of Principles of the International Fact-Checking Network. (Yas D. Ocampo / MindaNews)