ABS-CBN News, government agencies, and special interest groups on Friday signed a covenant to help ensure comprehensive, fair, and accurate coverage of the May 13, 2019 elections.

This year's signing continues a tradition of cooperation between multiple sectors of society forged years ago, for the 2010 national and local elections, the 2013 midterm elections, and the 2016 polls.

• ABS-CBN unveils Halalan 2016 theme in covenant signing with partners

Partnerships such as these are important in ensuring that the Filipino people experience safe elections, and to ensure that they get as much information as they can about one of the country’s most important democratic exercises, said ABS-CBN Integrated News Head Ging Reyes.

"Elections are critical in determining how our country is governed. Politics and debate can be healthy components in a society, which is why we must guard and protect against entities who seek to disrupt and cheat, and be steadfast against all forms of political violence. It is our civic responsibility as citizens," she said.

Comelec’s joining in the pact, said Commissioner Socorro Inting, reinforces the poll body’s "firm commitment of fulfilling its constitutionally mandated duty of ensuring free, orderly, honest, peaceful, and credible elections," as well as stressing its untiring support for projects geared toward voter education.

"With our vow now etched in this manifesto, let us now act and bring this to light as we prepare for the 2019 MLE (midterm and local elections)," she said.

ABS-CBN News is also confident of a stronger election coverage on digital with real-time updates and special digital content as it partners with leading video-sharing platform YouTube and social media giant Twitter.

Together with COMELEC, Youtube, and Twitter, the following are helping ABS-CBN News cover the 2019 elections: the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Philippine National Police (PNP), and the Department of Foreign Affairs Overseas, Voting Secretariat, Department of Education (DepEd), leading broadsheet Manila Bulletin, Vera Files, and election monitoring groups National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL), YouthVote, Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), and Kontra Daya.

Also providing support are businessmen and professionals in the fields of law and IT from the Anvil Business Club, Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), Finance Executives of the Philippines (FINEX), LENTE (Legal Network for Truthful Elections),Philippine Computer Society,Philippine Communication Society,and Pulse Asia Research Inc.

Completing ABS-CBN News’ partners for Halalan 2019 are schools University of the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila, De La Salle University, University of Santo Tomas, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, and STI Colleges, and non-government organizations Fully Abled Nation, The Asia Foundation, and Regional Emergency Assistance Communications Team (REACT) Philippines.

News.abs-cbn.com is the website of ABS-CBN News.