The Commission on Elections, the government’s poll watchdog, will conduct an “opening of books” of voters’ lists nationwide starting from April 18 to 29, Commissioner George Garcia said Tuesday.
This developed as Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the Department of Justice would give “highest priority” to the complaints against vote buying that would be filed by the DOJ.
Guevarra stressed that the DOJ would speedily resolve complaints against vote buying considering the significance of the May 9 elections to the country’s recovery.
“Considering the importance of the forth coming elections to the survival and recovery of the nation, I will direct the DOJ contingent to give the highest priority to this campaign in the next 40 days,” Guevarra said in a text message to reporters.
Meanwhile, the Department of Information and Communications Technology said it was working to ensure that the web services it was providing to the Commission on Elections for the May 9 polls were safe from cyberattacks.
DICT Acting Secretary Manny Caintic said preparations were underway to ensure a smooth national and local elections.
Interviewed on Dobol B TV, Garcia said the books that would be used inside voting precincts and the lists that would be posted outside precincts on election day could be checked.
Garcia made the statement as he discussed the layers of security in light of the concern that some deceased individuals may still be included on the voters’ list.
He said if the name of a person was included in the book inside a precinct or the election day computerized voters list (EDCVL), the person would be allowed to vote.
But if the name was absent in the EDCVL, the person would not be allowed to vote even if his name was in the list posted outside the precinct or the posted computerized voters list (PCVL).
If the EDCVL and PCVL do not match, Garcia said there might be some irregularities. According to him, some people are changing the PCVL to confuse the voters.
He also called on poll watchers and citizens’ arm to participate in the verification of the lists.
The DOJ is one of the agencies that would form the Commission on Elections Inter-Agency Task Force “Kontra Bigay” which is against vote buying.
Guevarra said he planned to form a composite team that would be part of the “Kontra Bigay” Task Force.
“I intend to create a DOJ composite team from the National Prosecution Service, National Bureau of Investigation, Public Attorney’s Office, and DOJ Action Centers (both the main and field offices) for the Comelec’s Inter-Agency Task Force Against Vote Buying,” he added.
The Comelec is expected to launch the Inter-Agency Task Force “Kontra Bigay” today. The Task Force would be composed of the DOJ, NBI Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC), Department of the Interior and Local Government, Philippine Information Agency, Philippine National Police, and Armed Forces of the Philippines.
This followed unconfirmed reports that Cavite Governor Jonvic Remulla handed out cash prizes to supporters attending a sortie of UniTeam bets. But he said that on that day, March 22, he was not yet a candidate.
The local elections campaign started last March 25.
There were also allegations that in another UniTeam rally in Nueva Ecija, envelopes reportedly with P500 inside, were handed out to the attendees. But Governor Aurelio Umali said the envelope contained financial aid.
Another role of the DICT in the May polls, Caintic said, was to prepare for the digital signatures of the Board of Election Inspectors and Board of Canvassers. This would be the first election that digital signatures will be used.
In related developments, the Comelec said there was a process that must be observed in removing names of deceased voters from the official list of voters.
Garcia said “We cannot immediately remove the names of those who died because of Republic Act 8189 or the continuing registration law. The Comelec cannot automatically remove them.”
Garcia explained that the civil registry office of a local government unit has to issue first a certification that an individual has died before his or her name can actually be removed from the list by the poll body’s election registration board.
“Supposed to be, they (civil registry) should be giving regular updates to the Comelec on that matter. However, it does not happen because they do not immediately issue these certifications,” he added.
This came amid concerns that the names of deceased voters who remain on the list may be used for poll cheating by unscrupulous individuals.
The Philippine Statistics Authority reported a total of 613,936 recorded deaths in 2020, the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
It also reported over 700,000 deaths as of November 2021.
At the same time, Garcia reminded the public that the name of the registered voter must be in the Election Day Computerized Voting List (EDCVL) inside the precincts for him/her to be able to vote on Election Day.
“If his name is in the Posted Computerized Voters Lists (PCVLs) which can be found outside the precinct but cannot be found in the Election Day Computerized Voting List (EDCVL), he will not be allowed to vote,” he said.