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Ang Batas, Sa Simpleng Salita — your rights, finally explained.

Republic Act No. 10380· Enacted 2013-03-14

Local Absentee Voting for Media (RA 10380) — BatasKo ELI5

Reporters, camera crews, and media support staff can vote on Election Day even if assigned far from home. Alamin ang iyong karapatan sa RA 10380.

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Ang Batas sa Madaling Salita— ELI5

If you work in media and are deployed to cover elections far from your registered precinct, you can still vote — but only for President, Vice President, Senators, and Party-List. COMELEC handles the accreditation and the logistics.

Official text — Republic Act No. 10380

Jump to section ↓8 sections

Preamble

Fifteenth Congress

Third Regular Session

Begun and held in Metro Manila, on Monday, the twenty-third day of July, two thousand twelve.

REPUBLIC ACT No. 10380

AN ACT PROVIDING FOR LOCAL ABSENTEE VOTING FOR MEDIA

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:

Section 1

Section 1.

Declaration of Policy.

– The State shall ensure the free exercise of the right of suffrage by all citizens of the Philippines not otherwise disqualified by law.

Section 2

Section 2.

Local Absentee Voting for Members of Media.

– The Commission on Elections shall extend the right to vote under the local absentee voting system provided under existing laws and executive orders to members of media, media practitioners, including the technical and support staff, who are duly registered voters and who, on election day, may not be able to vote due to the performance of their functions in covering and reporting on the elections:

Provided,

That they shall be allowed to vote only for the positions of President, Vice President, Senators and Party-List Representative.

Section 3 — Implementing Rules and Regulations.→

Section 3.

Implementing Rules and Regulations.

– The Commission on Elections shall, within thirty (30) days from the effectivity of this Act, promulgate the implementing rules and regulations which shall include a system of accreditation and verification of the members of media, media practitioners, the technical and support staff, who are qualified to avail of local absentee voting.

Section 4 — Appropriations.→

Section 4.

Appropriations.

– The initial funding of this Act shall be charged against the current year’s appropriations or from any available savings of the Commission on Elections. Thereafter, such amount as may be necessary for the continued implementation of this Act shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.

Section 5 — Separability Clause.→

Section 5.

Separability Clause.

–

If any part or provision of this Act shall be declared unconstitutional or invalid, other provisions hereof which are not affected thereby shall continue to be in full force and effect.

Section 6 — Repealing Clause.→

Section 6.

Repealing Clause.

–

All laws, presidential decrees, executive orders, resolutions, rules and regulations, other issuances, and parts thereof, which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

Show 1 more section +→
Section 7 — Effectivity.→

Section 7.

Effectivity.

– This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days following its publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,

(Sgd.)

JUAN PONCE ENRILE

President of the Senate

(Sgd.)

FELICIANO BELMONTE JR.

Speaker of the House of Representatives

This Act winch is a consolidation of Senate Bill No. 1198 and House Bill No. 4241 was finally passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives on January 22, 2013.

(Sgd.)

EMMA LIRIO-REYES

Secretary of Senate

(Sgd.)

MARILYN B. BARUA-YAP

Secretary General

House of Representatives

Approved: MAR 14 2013

(Sgd.) BENIGNO S. AQUINO III

President of the Philippines

The Lawphil Project - Arellano Law Foundation

Full text on BatasKo. Original source: Official Gazette / Lawphil.

Local Absentee Voting para sa Media — RA 10380

Reporters and camera crews cover elections for a living. But every election day, thousands of them are deployed to polling precincts, press centers, and command posts far from where they're registered to vote. The result? They can't vote.

RA 10380 fixes exactly that.

ELI5 / Sa madaling salita: Kung ikaw ay miyembro ng media na naka-deploy sa election coverage, hindi mo na kailangang pagpilian pa — ipokus ka sa trabaho mo at iboto pa rin ang iyong mga kandidato sa national positions, kahit malayo ka sa iyong precinct.

Real Filipino Scenario

Dante is a 29-year-old field cameraman for a local TV network in Iloilo. Every election season, he gets deployed to cover vote-counting operations in Capiz — a province away from his registered address in Iloilo City.

Before RA 10380, Dante had two choices: apply for absentee voting (which wasn't available to him), or skip voting entirely. He always skipped. That's thousands of Filipino journalists who lost their voice in every election.

Under RA 10380, Dante's network applies for COMELEC accreditation for their crew. Dante and his colleagues vote before their deployment through the local absentee voting process — casting ballots for President, Vice President, Senators, and Party-List. Hindi sila tinanggal sa pagboto.

What the Law Actually Says

RA 10380, signed by President Benigno Aquino III on March 14, 2013, amends the existing local absentee voting laws to include media practitioners.

Section 2 is the core of the law. It extends local absentee voting rights to:

  • Members of media (journalists, reporters, anchors)
  • Media practitioners (technical and production staff)
  • Support staff assigned to election coverage

The law requires that they be duly registered voters who cannot vote on election day because of their work covering the elections.

What positions can they vote for? Only national positions:

  • President
  • Vice President
  • Senators
  • Party-List Representative

They cannot vote for local positions (mayor, governor, congressman) because their ballot is counted at the national level, not in a specific local precinct.

Section 3 directs COMELEC to promulgate implementing rules within 30 days of the law's effectivity, including an accreditation and verification system for qualifying media personnel.

What This Means for You

If you work in media, here's the practical picture:

You qualify if you are:

  • A journalist, reporter, anchor, photographer, or videographer
  • A technical staff member (audio engineers, editors, producers on the ground)
  • Support personnel (drivers, security staff assigned to media teams)

The catch: Your employer or news organization must be accredited by COMELEC. Individual applications are not the norm — your network or outlet must register your team.

Hindi ibig sabihin ay pwede kang lumabas ng bansa at bumoto — this is LOCAL absentee voting, meaning you're voting within the Philippines, just away from your home precinct.

What Most Filipinos Get Wrong

"Kahit sinong media worker ay automático na makakalamang." Hindi. You need to be:

  1. Registered with COMELEC as part of an accredited media organization
  2. Assigned to actual election coverage work on election day
  3. A duly registered voter in the Philippines

"Maaari kang bumoto para sa lahat ng posisyon." Mali. National positions lang — President, VP, Senators, and Party-List. Local positions (mayor, governor) ay hindi kasama dahil nasa ibang precinct ka.

"Kahit freelancer ay kasama." The law covers those "duly registered" through a verification system COMELEC manages. Freelancers may be covered if their organization is accredited, but this depends on COMELEC's IRR implementation.

What to Do If You Want to Exercise This Right

  1. Confirm your voter registration is active. Check the COMELEC website or your local COMELEC office.
  2. Ask your HR or news director if your organization is COMELEC-accredited for absentee voting.
  3. If not accredited, encourage your organization to apply with COMELEC well before the election calendar.
  4. Submit required documents through your organization's designated coordinator — your deployment assignment, ID, and proof of coverage assignment.
  5. Vote at the designated absentee voting center specified by COMELEC, usually held days before election day.

For COMELEC inquiries: www.comelec.gov.ph

Related Laws

Mga Tanong at Sagot (FAQ)

Tanong: Kasama ba ang mga bloggers at online journalists sa local absentee voting para sa media? Sagot: The law covers "members of media" and "media practitioners" — the scope depends on whether your outlet is formally accredited by COMELEC. Online journalists working for recognized digital news organizations may qualify, but the accreditation of the organization is the key requirement.

Tanong: Paano kung hindi ma-accredit ang aking employer bago mag-election? Sagot: You would need to vote at your registered precinct on election day. If you cannot leave your assignment, you effectively lose the chance to vote that cycle. Encourage your outlet to process accreditation early — ideally months before any election.

Tanong: Maaari bang iboto ang lokal na opisyal sa pamamagitan ng absentee voting for media? Sagot: Hindi. Section 2 of RA 10380 explicitly limits the ballot to national positions only: President, Vice President, Senators, and Party-List Representative.

Sources

  • Republic Act No. 10380 — An Act Providing for Local Absentee Voting for Media, approved March 14, 2013. Full text at Lawphil.net

General information only. Not legal advice. Consult PAO at 1-800-10-PAO-8888 or visit www.comelec.gov.ph for authoritative guidance on election procedures.

By Irvin Abarca & Claude (AI Research Partner) Published May 2026 · 5 min read

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Legal disclaimer: BatasKo provides general legal information, not legal advice. For your specific situation, consult a licensed Filipino lawyer or the Public Attorney's Office (PAO).

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