Centralized Comelec office opens in Western Visayas

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By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has inaugurated its Integrated Field Office in Western Visayas, consolidating regional, provincial, and city offices under one roof to improve coordination, efficiency, and public service delivery.

Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia led the inauguration of the four-story facility at the Iloilo City Government Complex in Barangay Taal, Molo, Iloilo City, on Friday, Feb. 20, 2026.

The Integrated Field Office 6 houses the Iloilo City election officer on the first floor, the Iloilo provincial election supervisor on the second floor, and the regional election director on the third floor.

The fourth floor includes a dormitory for personnel and a multipurpose hall for regionwide meetings, training sessions, and institutional events.

Garcia said consolidating the offices will provide faster and more coordinated services, improve records management, enhance working conditions, and offer a more accessible and convenient experience for the public.

“This building is a connection between the past, present and the future. It is a symbol of our hard work and perseverance in the Comelec in service of the nation,” he said.

Under Garcia’s leadership, Comelec is targeting the establishment of four integrated field offices nationwide to decentralize operations and strengthen field-level services.

Garcia urged personnel to uphold integrity and professionalism to sustain public trust in the commission.

“We must demonstrate to the public that these facilities are built for the Comelec because the people trust us to carry out our mandate,” he added.

Comelec Western Visayas Director Dennis Ausan said the new facility ends years of operating from borrowed and rented spaces that lacked permanence.

“[Our old offices were] never reflective of permanence, and the gravity of our mission. Today marks the end of that chapter […] The strength of this structure lies in what it stands for. This building rises as an edifice of the people’s voice,” he emphasized.

The Iloilo City government provided the land through a renewable 50-year deed of usufruct, allowing Comelec to construct the facility within the government complex.

The project forms part of Comelec’s Strategic Plan for 2011–2016, which sought to integrate and empower field offices and address inefficiencies in its highly centralized structure.

The Comelec en banc approved the project on May 12, 2021, and construction, funded entirely by the commission, began on Aug. 18, 2022.