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Draft:Gregorio Larrazabal

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  • Comment: Conflict-of-interest disclosure: I am editing this draft at the personal request of its subject, as declared on my user page and on the draft talk page. Since the May 2026 decline, the draft has been rewritten and re-sourced. Independent coverage that discusses the subject directly includes The Philippine Star (2009, on his appointment), a Manila Bulletin feature interview (May 23, 2010), the Philippine Daily Inquirer (2011), Spin.ph (2013), and Rappler, the Philippine Daily Inquirer and The Philippine Star (2021). Jeffvillegas15 (talk) 09:54, 4 October 2026 (UTC)

Gregorio Larrazabal
Official COMELEC portrait, 2010
Commissioner of the Commission on Elections
In office
October 15, 2009 – February 2, 2011
Appointed byGloria Macapagal Arroyo
Succeeded byChristian Robert Lim
Personal details
BornGregorio Yrastorza Larrazabal
c. 1971
Leyte, Philippines
EducationUniversity of San Carlos (AB, LLB)
OccupationLawyer
Awards
Presidential Medal of Merit (2010)
NicknameGoyo

Gregorio Yrastorza Larrazabal[1] (born c. 1971),[2][3] commonly known as Goyo Larrazabal, is a Filipino lawyer and former election official. He served as a commissioner of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) from 2009 to 2011 and headed the commission's steering committee on poll automation for the 2010 general election, the first nationwide automated election in the Philippines.[4][5] After leaving the commission he became an officer of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), an election watchdog, and ran unsuccessfully for the House of Representatives in 2022, in Leyte's 4th congressional district, and in 2025, as the first nominee of a party-list group.[4][6][7] He joined the law firm DivinaLaw as a senior partner in 2025.[8]

Early life and education

[edit]
The University of San Carlos in Cebu City, where Larrazabal studied political science and law

Larrazabal was born in Leyte[2] and is from Ormoc,[9] where he completed his primary and secondary education at Saint Peter's College.[10] He belongs to the Larrazabal family, which The Philippine Star has described as one of the major political clans of the city and of Leyte's 4th district.[11] His father, Emeterio "Terry" Larrazabal, was a sugar planter who became mayor of Ormoc after the 1986 People Power Revolution; his mother, Adelina "Inday" Larrazabal, served briefly as governor of Leyte.[12][9][13]

He studied at the University of San Carlos in Cebu City, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 1992 and a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1996 and undertook graduate studies in philosophy.[3][4][10] He passed the 1996 Philippine Bar Examinations[10] and was admitted to the bar on May 9, 1997.[14] In 2000 he attended the Program of Instruction for Lawyers at Harvard Law School.[3]

Career

[edit]

Early career

[edit]

After working as a legal researcher at the Regional Trial Court in Ormoc and teaching at Saint Peter's College in 1997, Larrazabal joined the Office of the President as senior appointments director in 1998. He was then a legal executive assistant at the Philippine National Bank before returning to the Office of the President as a director in the office of the appointments secretary from 1999 to 2000.[1] From 2000 to 2002 he practiced law in Cebu City as a partner, and later managing partner, of a law firm while teaching at Cebu Doctors' College; from 2002 to 2004 he ran his own practice, the Larrazabal Law Office, working in election law and corporate law.[1][15] He has described his work before entering the election service as that of an election lawyer.[11]

Commission on Elections

[edit]
The Palacio del Gobernador in Intramuros, Manila, which houses the head office of the Commission on Elections

Field official

[edit]

Larrazabal joined COMELEC in 2004 as provincial election supervisor for Bulacan.[4][12] He later held assignments in Camarines Sur and Shariff Kabunsuan, served as acting regional election director for the Bicol Region, and in 2008 became regional election director for Eastern Visayas.[4][3] In October 2007 he took part in a United States Department of State leadership programme in which he studied the electoral systems of Maryland, New York and Massachusetts, and in 2009 he completed two BRIDGE (Building Resources in Democracy, Governance and Elections) courses conducted with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems.[10] The Philippine Star reported at the time of his appointment as commissioner that he had field experience from the 2008 automated elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.[2] Before that appointment he was president of the COMELEC Regional Election Directors Organization.[4]

Commissioner

[edit]

In September 2009, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo appointed Larrazabal, then 37, as a COMELEC commissioner.[2] He took his oath of office on October 15, 2009, on the same day as fellow appointee Elias Yusoph, to serve the remainder of a term ending in February 2011 that had been held by Commissioner Romeo A. Brawner, who died in office in 2008.[3][4]

Larrazabal headed the commission's steering committee on poll automation,[5] which oversaw the May 2010 general election, the first automated national election in the Philippines.[4] In the months before the vote he was quoted in Philippine and international media on the readiness of the system;[16] in February 2010, for example, he said that precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines in areas without mobile phone coverage would be able to transmit results by satellite.[5]

A week before election day, final testing found that some PCOS machines did not correctly read votes for local candidates because their compact flash cards had been wrongly configured, and the cards for more than 76,000 machines had to be replaced or reconfigured. Larrazabal said the commission would review its contract with the supplier, Smartmatic-TIM, and study possible penalties after the election.[17] The count itself proceeded quickly: The Christian Science Monitor reported that about 90 percent of the votes had been counted within two days, where manual counts in earlier elections had often taken weeks, and quoted Larrazabal as saying that the conduct of the automation "proves our critics wrong".[18] In July 2010 he told Agence France-Presse that the system had been "generally successful", although "there were some kinks that need to be ironed out".[19] Two weeks after the election, the Manila Bulletin published a feature interview with him under the headline "Man of the hour".[20]

In June 2010, shortly before leaving office, Arroyo conferred the Presidential Medal of Merit on Larrazabal and four other commissioners, and the Order of Lakandula on COMELEC chairman Jose Melo, in recognition of the commission's conduct of the automated election.[21] The sports news site Spin.ph later described him as "among those credited for paving the way for the first-ever automated national elections in the country".[22]

Larrazabal retired from the commission on February 2, 2011, at the end of the term he had been appointed to complete.[23][4] He was succeeded by Christian Robert Lim; reporting on the change, the Philippine Daily Inquirer described Larrazabal as one of the few poll officials regarded as "tech savvy".[24]

Election watchdog and commentator

[edit]

In October 2011, PPCRV announced that Larrazabal would join it as vice chairman for external affairs. Its chairperson, Henrietta de Villa, said his experience in election matters would be an asset to the organization.[4] Ahead of the 2013 elections, a civil society group that questioned PPCRV's independence from COMELEC cited the appointment among its objections, noting that Larrazabal had led the 2010 automation project; Rappler reported in April 2013 that he had recently resigned from the watchdog.[25]

He continued to comment publicly on election automation. In December 2014, after watchdog groups asked COMELEC to blacklist Smartmatic over alleged misrepresentation in the 2009 procurement of PCOS machines, Larrazabal said the company should answer the allegations before the commission considered it as a supplier of additional machines, and noted that other vendors could provide an automated election system.[26]

Before the 2016 general election, while serving as a consultant to the Nationalist People's Coalition, he warned that unresolved procedures—including how election boards would verify the hash codes of the vote-counting and canvassing software—could delay the proclamation of winners.[27] In the same week he wrote to the commission asking it to recall a late rule on replacement ballots, which he argued lacked a legal basis.[28] After the vote, amid a controversy over an altered script in the results system, he called for a broad audit of the automated election and said that any change proposed by Smartmatic should be subject to COMELEC's approval.[29]

In August 2021, during the COVID-19 community quarantines, he publicly urged that voter registration be allowed to resume in areas under the stricter quarantine classification.[30]

2022 elections

[edit]
Ormoc, Larrazabal's home city and part of Leyte's 4th congressional district

In July 2021, Senate President Vicente Sotto III named Larrazabal in the initial senatorial slate of his tandem with presidential candidate Panfilo Lacson for the 2022 elections.[31][32] Larrazabal announced in September that he would instead seek a seat in the House of Representatives.[12]

On October 4, 2021, he filed a certificate of candidacy for representative of Leyte's 4th district in the 2022 elections, facing Ormoc mayor Richard Gomez, whose wife Lucy Torres-Gomez was the incumbent.[12][9][33] He said his priorities, if elected, would include revising provisions of the Omnibus Election Code.[9][33] Reports at the time of his filing said he would run under the Nationalist People's Coalition, Promdi and the People's Reform Party, and that he had held talks with the Codilla family, another political clan in the district;[9][33][11] Rappler's list of candidates in the province recorded him as an independent.[34] Gomez won the seat with 148,941 votes to Larrazabal's 117,912.[6]

2025 party-list campaign

[edit]

In the 2025 party-list election, Larrazabal was the first nominee of Partido sa Bagong Pilipino (PBP), a new party-list group that campaigned on improving basic services in barangays, including drinking water, health care, electricity and roads.[35][36][37] PBP received 68,085 votes, about 0.16 percent of the party-list vote, and was not among the groups proclaimed as winners.[7][38]

Law practice and writing

[edit]

As an election lawyer in private practice, he led the Manila-based legal team of Cebu City mayor Tomas Osmeña in the election protest filed by defeated candidate Michael Rama after the 2016 mayoral election.[39] In August 2025, Larrazabal joined DivinaLaw, a Philippine law firm headed by Nilo Divina, as a senior partner to lead its election law and governance practice.[8][40] He has been a columnist for the Manila Bulletin since at least 2020, when his column appeared under the title "#AskGoyo";[41] it was later titled "Off the Beaten Path", with subjects including domestic travel and tourism.[42][43]

Cycling

[edit]
Lake Danao in Ormoc, the setting of a fun ride at the 2004 Terry Larrazabal Bike Festival[44]

Larrazabal has been a mountain biker since 1989[44] and has said he was introduced to cycling by his father.[22] In 2002 he and his sisters started the Terry Larrazabal Bike Festival, a multi-discipline cycling event in Ormoc named in their father's memory, and he has served as its festival director.[44][45][13] A 2004 Sun.Star Cebu column described him as a Philippine representative to the International Mountain Bicycling Association.[44] The mountain biker Hans Rey was a featured guest at the 2006 festival.[46] The 2009 edition, held in Subic, was reported to have attracted more than 1,000 cyclists from 13 countries and was to be featured in the American cycling magazine Dirt Rag.[47] The 2013 edition, which included road, mountain bike and BMX events and the multi-stage Tour de Larrazabal road race, was expected to draw more than a thousand participants.[45][13] According to Spin.ph and The Philippine Star, he commuted by bicycle to the COMELEC head office in Intramuros while he was a commissioner.[22][48] He has advocated cycling as everyday transport: in a 2020 column he backed a Department of Transportation proposal to make cycling to work viable after the COVID-19 lockdowns,[41] and in 2023 he told the Manila Bulletin that bike lanes should make cycling "a viable alternative means of transportation".[49]

Electoral history

[edit]
2022 election for representative of Leyte's 4th congressional district[6]
Candidate Votes
Richard Gomez 148,941
Gregorio "Goyo" Larrazabal 117,912

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 3 "Gregorio Yrastorza Larrazabal" (PDF) (Curriculum vitae). Commission on Elections. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 8, 2010. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Sy, Marvin (September 3, 2009). "Larrazabal is 7th poll commissioner". The Philippine Star. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Tan, Kimberly Jane (October 15, 2009). "New poll commissioners assume office". GMA News Online. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Gregorio Larrazabal now a poll watchdog". Philippine Daily Inquirer. October 19, 2011. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 Tan, Kimberly Jane (February 4, 2010). "Poll results can be sent even in areas without cellphone signals". GMA News Online. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  6. 1 2 3 Meniano, Sarwell (June 28, 2022). "Richard Gomez celebrates win as new Leyte solon". Philippine News Agency. Archived from the original on December 12, 2022. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  7. 1 2 Flores, Dominique Nicole (May 16, 2025). "Comelec releases final party-list ranking in the 2025 elections". The Philippine Star. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  8. 1 2 "DivinaLaw hires ex-commissioner to boost election law team". Asia Business Law Journal. August 15, 2025. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Gabieta, Joey (October 4, 2021). "'Goyo' to contest 'Goma' in Leyte congressional race". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "Comm. Gregorio Y. Larrazabal". Commission on Elections. February 22, 2010. Archived from the original on August 1, 2010. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  11. 1 2 3 Desacada, Miriam (October 6, 2021). "Ex-poll exec seeks Leyte congressional seat". The Philippine Star. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Lim, Lance (October 4, 2021). "Ex-Comelec commissioner Goyo Larrazabal runs for Leyte congressman". Rappler. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  13. 1 2 3 "Tougher, bigger 3-day Larrazabal bikefest up". The Philippine Star. August 28, 2013. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  14. ↑ "Law List: L". Chan Robles Virtual Law Library. Retrieved October 4, 2026. LARRAZABAL, GREGORIO Y.; Cebu City; May 09, 1997; Roll No. 42344.
  15. ↑ "Gregorio Y. Larrazabal". DivinaLaw. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  16. ↑ Jimenez, Justin (April 23, 2010). "A Vote of Confidence for Philippine Elections?". Time. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  17. ↑ Crisostomo, Sheila (May 8, 2010). "Sanctions eyed vs Smartmatic". The Philippine Star. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  18. ↑ McLean, John (May 12, 2010). "Philippines election results pour in with efficiency that surprises many". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  19. ↑ Addison, Adrian (July 12, 2010). "Electronic voting no threat yet to the old style ballot box". Phys.org. Agence France-Presse. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  20. ↑ Barawid, Rachel C. (May 23, 2010). "Comelec commissioner Gregorio Y. Larrazabal: Man of the hour". Manila Bulletin. pp. O1–O2. Retrieved October 4, 2026 – via Index to Philippine Newspapers, University of the Philippines Library.
  21. ↑ "GMA honors Comelec for giving RP its first automated polls". The Philippine Star. June 30, 2010. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  22. 1 2 3 Ramos, Gerry (August 28, 2013). "Former Comelec commissioner Larrazabal a certified bike enthusiast". Spin.ph. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  23. ↑ Crisostomo, Sheila (January 9, 2011). "Poll watchdog bares list of possible replacements for Comelec officials". The Philippine Star. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  24. ↑ Aning, Jerome (April 6, 2011). "New Comelec commissioner joins 1st en banc meeting". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  25. ↑ Rufo, Aries C. (April 6, 2013). "Catholic bishops split over PPCRV". Rappler. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  26. ↑ Esplanada, Jerry E. (December 2, 2014). "Comelec to Smartmatic: Convince us of your right to bid". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  27. ↑ Tordesillas, Ellen T. (May 4, 2016). "Ex- Comelec official fears delay in proclamation of winners". Vera Files. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  28. ↑ Tordesillas, Ellen T. (May 6, 2016). "Larrazabal presses alarm on Comelec's replacement ballot rule". Vera Files. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  29. ↑ Imperial, Maria Feona (May 19, 2016). "Comelec proclaims winners despite issues, protests". Vera Files. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  30. ↑ Mendoza, John Eric (August 28, 2021). "Ex-Comelec commissioner wants voter registration to resume in MECQ areas". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  31. ↑ Ager, Maila (July 21, 2021). "Lacson-Sotto tandem bares 10 senatorial bets for 2022". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  32. ↑ Bordey, Hana (July 22, 2021). "Lacson, Sotto in talks with 5 personalities to join their senatorial slate in Eleksyon 2022". GMA News Online. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  33. 1 2 3 Marticio, Marie Tonette (October 4, 2021). "'Goyo' battles 'Goma' in Leyte congressional race". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  34. ↑ "LIST: Who is running in Leyte in the 2022 Philippine elections?". Rappler. September 22, 2021. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  35. ↑ "Partido sa Bagong Pilipino". Rappler. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  36. ↑ Inares, Antonio (January 31, 2025). "PBP cracks Top 20 in Tangere survey, pushes barangay-first agenda". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  37. ↑ Barrientos, Chris (April 25, 2025). "Larrazabal: 'Barangay ang panalo' under PBP". Palawan News. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  38. ↑ Bordey, Hana (May 19, 2025). "52 party-list groups proclaimed as Eleksyon 2025 winners". GMA News Online. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  39. ↑ Bunachita, Jose Santino S. (December 4, 2016). "Comelec orders a recount". Cebu Daily News. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  40. ↑ "Former Philippine election commissioner joins DivinaLaw as senior partner". Asian Legal Business. August 18, 2025. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  41. 1 2 Larrazabal, Gregorio Y. (May 3, 2020). "I want to ride my bicycle". #AskGoyo. Manila Bulletin. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  42. ↑ Larrazabal, Gregorio (January 31, 2026). "Bring back the 'Wow!'". Off the Beaten Path. Manila Bulletin. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  43. ↑ "Off the Beaten Path". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  44. 1 2 3 4 Pages, John (November 9, 2004). "The TLBF: An Affair to Remember in Ormoc". Sun.Star Cebu. Retrieved October 4, 2026 – via the columnist's archive, republished February 26, 2008.
  45. 1 2 "Larrazabal bike fest kicks off Oct. 24 to 27". Philippine Daily Inquirer. August 27, 2013. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  46. ↑ Pages, John (2008). "Spinning MTB wheels, Goyo propels the TLBF". Sun.Star Cebu. Retrieved October 4, 2026 – via the columnist's archive, republished March 13, 2009.
  47. ↑ Dungog, Malou (April 3, 2009). "Subic bike fest attracts cyclists from 13 countries". Punto! Central Luzon. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  48. ↑ Pamintuan, Ana Marie (May 13, 2020). "Cycling in the pandemic". Sketches. The Philippine Star. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  49. ↑ "Bikers, bike lanes, and safe roads: It should not be a test to survive a journey". Manila Bulletin. May 5, 2023. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
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