An intensive cleansing of the voters’ list nationwide looms as the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said it has discovered some 400,000 double registrants signifying potential flying voters in the forthcoming barangay and sangguniang kabataan elections.
Comelec chairman George Garcia said the figure could possibly go up to 500,000 as review of the list has yet to be completed.
“As of today, those who were able to register from December 12 to January 31 this year, we were able to verify that there are at least 400,000 double or multiple registrants,” Garcia told the ANC network.
“We will be finishing with our assessment by the end of May and hopefully, it will reach at least 500,000,” Garcia said.
He vowed transparency on the results of their investigation. “We are going to expose that. We are going to make a detail as to when or where are the places where there are double or multiple registrants.”
The Senate was also poised to conduct an inquiry into the irregularity as suggested by Senator Imee Marcos.
Marcos charged that the fraudulent voters’ registrations were “bankrolled by big-time businessmen, contractors, and suppliers in anticipation of an increase in the internal revenue allotment of barangays arising from the so-called Mandanas ruling by the Supreme Court.
In the interview, Garcia also underscored the need to revisit Omnibus Election Code with a view to punishing flying voters.
“It’s a perennial problem, always a problem not only of the Comelec but the entire country,” he said.
“Indeed, there are individuals who wanted to exploit the defects in our laws… that’s why we can even see flying voters. Voters who are not really from this area or voters who are being led in masse by certain individuals or politicians,” he added.
“Indeed, other than the efforts of the Commission on Elections, there should be amendments of certain laws especially on the issues of registration of voters,” Garcia stressed.