Manila: The Commission on Elections (Comelec) may abandon its plan to feature candidate photos on the official ballots for the upcoming Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections (BPE) scheduled for October 13.

According to Philippines News Agency, Comelec Chairperson George Garcia revealed in a recent interview that the decision stems from the low response rate among candidates in submitting their photos. Out of approximately 100 candidates who filed their certificates of candidacy between November 4 and 9, only about 20 have responded to requests for their images.

Garcia explained that inconsistency in having some candidates' photos on the ballots, while others remain unrepresented, is prompting the commission to consider removing all candidate photos from the ballots. Instead, the official ballots will likely feature the logos of the political parties, all of which have been submitted. There are seven political parties participating in the election.

The commission had previously announced plans to commence printing over two million official ballots for the BPE in August.